Anthony Joshua v Tyson Fury ‘off’ but Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn ‘happy to continue discussions’

Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes the heavyweight showdown with Tyson Fury is still “open for discussion” despite a bout this year looking unlikely.

But to Hearn, the fight is currently “off”, although the Matchroom promoter remains open to negotiating terms.

“As far as we’re concerned the fight’s off. We’re happy to continue the discussions,” Hearn said

“In our mind, he’s not fighting Anthony Joshua. We’re more than happy to continue those conversations but what we’ve been told is the deadline is passed and so have the entire country.

“We have sent the final version of the contract back, they’ve come back with points and we were told that the fight is off by the man himself.”

The back and forth, with both teams blaming one another for the delay, means the December 3 date pencilled in for this fight is seemingly off the cards.

The pair had agreed financial terms, with Fury taking home more in a 60-40 split, and Cardiff’s Principality Stadium slated in to host the fight, but according to reports both parties are struggling to agree on commercial terms.

“They gave us terms ultimately and a date they thought we wouldn’t accept. We did accept that. We were ready to go. If they were to sign the contract on Monday, they had a fight,” Hearn added.

“We were asked to agree the deal by Monday, then we were asked to agree it by Wednesday. We got the comments back on Wednesday. We were never going to sign the fight [then], and we were told the fight’s off.

“It’s still there. It’s still open for discussion. But we’re not going to play a game with a bloke that’s just coming out telling AJ it’s off, and then he’s a dosser, he’s got to sign it, etc.

“Have your fight if you fight someone else, and we’ll do our thing and we’ll see what happens.”