Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury: Hearn Says Fight Is Legally Signed

Anthony Joshua’s proposed heavyweight fight with Tyson Fury remains contractually agreed, according to Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn. Hearn said the contracts have been signed and that the parties are now waiting for Sela to announce an official date. The bout has been discussed for November, but no confirmed day or venue has been released.

Hearn’s statement followed a warning from Fury that the fight appeared to be falling apart. Fury accused Joshua and Hearn on social media of seeking additional money from the Saudi backers involved in the event. Hearn rejected that account and said there was no reason for the public dispute to threaten the bout.

“The update is quite simple. We’ve signed the contract. We’re waiting for a date,” Hearn told DAZN Boxing. “The fight’s done, the fight’s signed. No one can pull out of the fight. You can’t just pull out of a contract.” He added that the only way the event could stop was if one of the parties breached the agreement.

The central disagreement is not whether Joshua and Fury have committed to fight, but where the contest will take place. Joshua’s side holds a signed agreement for the bout to be staged in the United Kingdom. Sela, Netflix and other parties connected to the event are pushing for Madison Square Garden in New York.

Hearn said Joshua’s team does not want the fight moved to the United States, although it has submitted terms under which the change could be accepted. A New York event would affect Joshua’s financial arrangements and tax position, creating issues that were not part of the original UK agreement. Those changes are now being negotiated with Sela and the wider organising team.

“We know everybody and his dog involved in the fight wants to do the fight in America. We don’t,” Hearn said. “We’ve told Sela and the team ‘if you want to do it in America, these are the terms that we can move forward with. But we’d rather not please’.” His position leaves the existing British venue clause as the fallback if the revised American terms are not accepted.

The contract gives Hearn a strong basis for insisting that the event should proceed, but a signed agreement does not itself place the fighters in a ring. Sela could refuse to finance or stage the event, although doing so could expose the company to a legal claim for breach. The financial consequences would depend on the cancellation and breach provisions in the agreement, which have not been made public.

That practical issue matters because Joshua has received some of his biggest purses through backing connected to Turki Alalshikh and Sela. The UK clause gives Hearn leverage to seek better terms for New York, while an extended dispute could put pressure on the relationship behind the event. The disagreement therefore involves more than a city: it also concerns the financial structure that makes a fight of this scale possible.

For the heavyweight division, the uncertainty delays the formal shape of one of its most anticipated match-ups. Joshua and Fury have not been given a public date, and the venue remains unsettled despite the fighters being contractually tied to the contest. Until Sela confirms the arrangements, the event remains agreed in principle and legally protected, but not fully finalised in practical terms.

The next step is for Sela to choose between delivering the fight under the existing UK agreement or accepting Joshua’s revised conditions for Madison Square Garden. Hearn said his preference is for a British stadium, while acknowledging that the other parties favour New York. The proposed November window remains the target, with the announcement of a date and venue still outstanding.