Eddie Hearn Says Joshua-Fury Wembley Talks Have Reopened As Sadiq Khan Offers London Help

Eddie Hearn says talks have reopened to stage Anthony Joshua’s long-discussed fight with Tyson Fury at Wembley Stadium, after weeks of dispute over whether the British heavyweight showdown would be taken to the United States.

The fight had appeared to be moving towards Madison Square Garden in New York for November, with Saudi promotion company Sela and Netflix preferring the United States to maximise the global broadcast audience. Joshua’s side, however, have maintained that his contract explicitly states the bout must take place in the UK.

Hearn, who promotes Joshua, announced the shift on social media under the message “Wembley or Nowhere”, writing: “I want to thank everyone for the unbelievable support! You have been heard and talks have now re-opened for Wembley. Let’s make history with one of the biggest sporting moments Britain has ever seen.”

The venue dispute has been the central obstacle since Joshua and Fury signed an agreement with Saudi boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh earlier this year. Fury’s side have indicated he is willing to fight anywhere, while Joshua’s position has been tied to the UK clause in his deal. When the American option gathered momentum, Hearn sent an addendum to Sela seeking fresh terms in exchange for Joshua accepting a US fight, including compensation for the tax impact of boxing in America and settlement of the full purse for Joshua’s bout with Kristian Prenga.

Hearn had said before the latest Wembley development: “We don’t want to do the fight in the US, but we also understand it has to work for everybody. At the same time, we’re basically being told, if you don’t do the fight, we only want to do the fight in the US, which we don’t agree with. We don’t understand. We’ve been banging our head against the wall on that for the last two months. So, like I said, we’ve set out our position, mainly in concern to the tax situation that will deplete his net purse by going to America, which can be rectified. I think they’re happy to do that. Everything else, there’s no abnormal requests. It’s up to them. There’s nothing else to discuss.”

London mayor Sadiq Khan has now become part of the public push to keep the fight in the capital. Khan told Sky Sports: “I’m a big boxing fan, as you know. We’ve hosted some of the biggest boxing events in history in London during my mayoralty. Many British fans are fans of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Many Londoners love both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.”

Khan added: “Both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua recognise the importance of British boxing fans. The promoters know we’re here to help. We’ve approached those in the know to say we’re here to help. Eddie Hearn has approached us, and we’re keen to work with Eddie and the team. I understand the temptation of going to Madison Square Garden, of the money on offer, but the fans are here. We’ve been loyal to Tyson and Anthony. We love them both, and we’d love to see them box here in London.”

The renewed Wembley talks come after growing pressure around the timetable. Hearn had warned that time was running out for a proposed November 20 date, while Fury’s promoter Frank Warren told the Daily Mail: “Unless AJ commits by the end of next week, I’m afraid this will slip away like so many of those great fights which never happened.”

Fury also suggested he was ready to look elsewhere if Joshua did not agree terms quickly, saying on social media: “There’s nothing I can do. I can’t make a coward fight, can I? I’ve been waiting 10 years for this and been ready every time. One thing I won’t be doing is wasting my later years with a freak who doesn’t want to fight. So I will move on. There’s plenty of world champions out there who do want to fight, who do want to make some money, so I’ll be giving them a knock. Agit Kabayel, [Filip] Hrgovic, Daniel Dubois. Whoever else there is. They can fight me in November because this is going nowhere.”

The immediate issue is whether Hearn, Sela, Netflix and Fury’s representatives can turn the reopened Wembley discussions into revised terms that satisfy all sides. If they cannot, the New York option and Fury’s stated back-up plans will again become part of the seemingly endless saga.