Dana White continues to insist he’s involved in the upcoming Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury fight, and Joshua’s manager Eddie Hearn continues to insist he’s not.
Thus far, it looks like Hearn is the one sharing more than just bluster when it comes to his statements. Early on, he shared a key fact: that Joshua had a signed contract that stated the Fury fight would take place in the U.K., and UFC parent company TKO would have nothing to do with the fight.
Dana White had a different vision for the fight:
one where TKO was the main promoter and the fight would be held at Madison Square Garden. A battle in the media and behind the scenes ensued, and lo and behold: the fight ended up in Cardiff, Wales at Principality Stadium.
Okay, fine. Good for Eddie and Anthony. Now White says he’s still going to produce the event for television. Now that wouldn’t be the worst thing: UFC broadcasts are a well oiled machine compared to tortuous boxing broadcasts that run on way too long. But Eddie Hearn says that’s not happening either.
“Under our contract, he can’t,” Hearn said. “So that’s where we stand on it. And [Saudi event promoter] Sela has confirmed to us in writing that Dana White and the UFC are not doing the production for this show.”
“Whisper, the production company that did the production for Fury/Makhmudov, they have a contract to do the production for Fury AJ on Netflix. So look, regarding the production … if they want to speak to us about changing the contract about the production, I’m open to a conversation. Show me how it looks.”
“I don’t really care, I won our battle,” he continued. “And the main battle was don’t let this fight happen in America. Don’t take this fight away from British fight fans. And we won. The main battle was [White] thinking he’s the main promoter, now he’s saying ‘There’s a lot of us promoting, and I’m doing a post on Instagram so of course I’m promoting.’ It’s weak as f–k.”
“So I’m not really bothered. I’m focused on the fight. Of course we’ll stand our ground contractually, but that’s it.”
Hearn is having a great time here because he knows contractually he’d have to allow Dana White and TKO to participate in the Fury vs. Joshua fight. Something that he’s willing to do, if there’s the appropriate amount of concessions and probably some groveling from TKO. Will TKO do it? Or will they try to wedge themselves in and get sued? Find out next week on ‘As The Fury Vs. A.J. Turns.’
