Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury will go ahead this year after Eddie Hearn confirmed they had finally signed their contracts.
The star duo have been locked in talks to face-off in an all-British heavyweight unification showdown this summer.
Fury, 32,
recently vented his frustration at the contracts not being signed – admitting he has stopped eating and training while drinking up to 12 pints of beer per day, putting his blockbuster bout with AJ in serious jeopardy.
But now the fight has finally been confirmed with Joshua, 31, and Fury going toe-to-toe twice later this year in a deal worth a staggering £200million.
Hearn – Joshua’s promoter – confirmed the good news saying the ‘hard part’ is now over and done with.
Hearn told ESPN: “We’d like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month.
“The hard part is always getting everybody to put pen to paper.
“But this was a major effort from all parties to get this over the line.
“You had rival promoters, rival networks and rival fighters.
“I actually feel we’ve done the hard part.”
Hearn continued by confirming ‘multiple countries’ – including Saudi Arabia and America – are keen to host the monster showdown.
The fight purse split was agreed as long ago as June 2020.
Last summer, both Hearn and Fury confirmed telephone talks had got the financial agreements sorted for a 50-50 first leg split, with the winner taking home the larger slice of a 60-40 split in the rematch.
Earlier this month, Hearn even sold Brit fans the dream of the second-leg of the two-fight rivalry happening at a packed Wembley stadium, after lockdown restrictions have been lifted.
Fury has not boxed since his brilliant February 2020 rematch win over Deontay Wilder that earned him the WBC title that is the one missing from Joshua’s collection.
Joshua, meanwhile, beat Kubrat Pulev as recently as December with a brutal ninth-round KO.
But the Gypsy King is still in confident mood, claiming he could give ‘bum’ Joshua ‘a good hiding’ after 14 pints.
Over the weekend, Fury told MTK Global: “I could drink 14 pints and still give AJ a hiding.
Fury then went on to call himself a ‘bionic action warrior’, insisting he ‘can’t be beaten’.
