Just two days after celebrating Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua’s official announcement, Zuffa Boxing’s Dana White conceded he now doesn’t know if the fight will even take place.
The heavyweight bout was confirmed Thursday after months of talks over whether it would take place in New York City, somewhere in Britain, or not at all.
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White was enthusiastic earlier in the week, calling Fury (36-2-1, 25 KOs) and Joshua (30-4, 27 KOs) “two of the biggest heavyweights of this generation.” He said the winner would occupy a significant place in heavyweight history. The WBA’s “Super” heavyweight world title is also expected to be on the line.
Within days, though, the entire event was thrown into disarray amid a dispute over White’s involvement as a promoter.
Joshua’s career-long promoter, Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn, maintains the UFC CEO is contractually prohibited from promoting the event. Fury said he voluntarily removed a similar restriction from his own agreement to allow White to promote the fight.
The disagreement predates Thursday’s announcement, with Hearn and White having publicly clashed over the promotional arrangements for months. Hearn maintains that the contractual restrictions in Joshua’s agreement remain unchanged.
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Speaking Saturday after Johnny Fisher’s majority decision win over Michael Pirotton atop the Zuffa Boxing 11 show in London, a visibly frustrated and defiant White said he had “no idea” if an expected Fury-Joshua press event on Wednesday would take place, and didn’t know if the fight would even go ahead in December.
White was adamant, meanwhile, that his own role as promoter had not changed. “It’s the same as it was yesterday and the day before that,” he said.
Asked whether he would step aside if his involvement threatened the fight, White responded: “That’s not up to me. I’m involved in the f***ing fight.”
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As the questions continued from UK reporters regarding Fury-Joshua’s status and his role in its promotion, White grew increasingly agitated, swearing at the assembled media and turning his sights on Hearn, who he said was “the guy who is supposed to be helping the fight [but] is hurting the fight the entire time. He hasn’t been doing the fight any favors.”
“I don’t know if I’ve ever known anybody more full of s*** than Eddie Hearn,” White added. “This guy is full of f***ing s***. I’ve been saying the same since way back when. And yet here we are.
“I’m tired of it. It’s pretty crazy, the guy who is actually heavily invested in this fight and he and his client are supposed to make a s***-load of money off this fight, is the one who is hurting it.”
White then addressed Zuffa commentator Max Kellerman’s on-air remarks that suggested the UFC boss was helping Turki Alalshikh on a personal level for the event rather than as a promoter. “I don’t know where that came from,” he said. “That was weird.”
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He also denied rumors that veteran fighter Manny Pacquiao would return to the ring in a co-feature against Zuffa signing Shakur Stevenson, while saying Keyshawn Davis vs. Richardson Hitchins was “more than likely” getting added to the show — should it even proceed.
White said he expected greater clarity over the main event’s future within three or four days. “This thing is a whole s*** show right now,” he finished.
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