Matchroom president Barry Hearn claims he is gambling the future of his company in a plucky attempt to stage Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s long-awaited showdown at London’s Wembley Stadium.
According to the Hall of Fame promoter’s son, Eddie Hearn, ‘AJ’ originally signed to collide with ‘The Gypsy King’ in the UK.
Since then, though, the money men behind this particular event – including the bigwigs at Netflix and Sela, Saudi Arabia’s sports and entertainment arm – have expressed increasing interest in taking the fight to America.
More specifically, New York’s Madison Square Garden has been named as a likely destination, only for Eddie Hearn to recently claim that talks have reopened for an event on British soil.
As we await an announcement, it therefore seems as though things are very much up in the air ahead of the proposed fight date of November 20.
Additionally, it would appear that Zuffa Boxing promoter Dana White and TKO Group Holdings director Nick Khan are attempting to involve themselves in negotiations.
But while he and Eddie are clearly fighting an uphill battle, Barry Hearn has told IFL TV that they will continue their effort to stage this event in the UK.
“I can tell the truth because I don’t give a flying whatever: We are working our socks off to bring this fight to England against all the odds.
“We’re up against Netflix, a 330-billion pound company; we’re up against TKO – Dana White, whoever he might be in his own world.
“And we don’t give a monkey because we are there to represent not only Anthony Joshua, but the British boxing public. We want this fight in Wembley.
“We’re gambling the future of our company: We’re upsetting the Saudis, we’re upsetting Netflix; we’re upsetting the TKO … and we don’t give a monkey.”
By admitting to “gambling” the future of his company, Hearn is effectively saying that Matchroom’s relationship with Sela and Turki Alalshikh could be in jeopardy.
