The global boxing fandom has been hyped up on the announcement of the upcoming undisputed heavyweight clash between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) and WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titleholder Anthony Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs).
While Joshua’s promoter and Matchroom MD Eddie Hearn has confirmed that both fighters have penned a 2-fight unification deal, a venue for the grand showdown between the heavyweights is yet to be decided.
Back in December last year, Hearn insisted that Fury vs Joshua may not be happening in the United Kingdom, home of both fighters, bringing forth the issue of crowd capacity which is likely to be hampered by COVID-19, and the promoter hinted the fight taking place at an overseas location.
Amidst speculations of a possible fight location for the two Briton pugilists, Saudi Arabia, which hosted Joshua’s rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr in December 2019 has been leading as the most probable venue for the heavyweight clash.
Eddie Hearn says the offer came from “Not Macau but not far away”
Meanwhile, just days after the unification deal, Hearn claims that he has received an astounding offer on Wednesday to host Fury vs Joshua at a venue somewhere in Asia.
In a recent interview with Daily Mail, Eddie Hearn revealed that he was recently approached by an Asian businessman, who has offered the Matchroom chief north of $200 million to take the fight to the Far East.
While not disclosing the details of the businessman, Hearn clarified that “money is not an issue with this guy” and wants to host Fury vs Joshua in a location “not far away” from Macau, the famous autonomous region on the south coast of China.
‘I had an approach yesterday, not from the Middle East, but it was the most bizarre approach,” said Hearn, ‘I can’t say who it was but it was from a very wealthy individual and he wants to do something very special.“
‘And that’s the mindset of an individual who wants to bring it to his own country,” the 41-year-old went on, “it’s not about selling tickets, it’s not about government investment… it would him be saying “I’d be paying for it”.
While Hearn says Joshua prefers a fight in Saudi Arabia, alongside offers from other Middle East countries and even Singapore who have shown interest in hosting the undisputed bout, the location this businessman has offered is also a “realistic option” for Hearn.
The promoter is also confident to host the fight sometime in either June or July, and has thumbed down the rumors about a fight date in November-December if Saudi is indeed to be the host.
“If the question comes back “Can we do it later in the year?”. The answer is no. That’s the date,” acknowledged Hearn, “the absolute focus is June or July. If there’s a site that says another date then you’re out.”
