Eddie Hearn has played down fears that Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury will take place in the middle of the night in the UK.
The long-awaited British super-fight is close to being confirmed, with Cardiff expected to host the bout on 11 December, after months of awkward negotiations.
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One speculated condition for the fight to occur in the UK is a late start time, to cater for a US audience, but Hearn said on Saturday: “People talk about a 3am BST fight? I don’t think you’ll see the fight that late.
Anthony Joshua with his promoter Eddie Hearn (Getty)
“But obviously there had to be conversations with the [Principality] Stadium about what’s possible and what is not possible.
“That’s probably a reason for the delay [of the fight announcement]: to make sure everything is boxed off with the council to have a slightly later start time.
“Over the past week or two, we made our decision. AJ was the guy leading that decision. We weren’t interested in accepting extra money or changing the terms of the agreement to change the location. He wanted to make sure the fight was in the UK.
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“Since then, they have accepted that. We are working together and speaking to Netflix to lock in the date. I think the date is locked in.”
Hearn, who promotes “AJ”, was referring to a location dispute that stemmed from Joshua, 36, and Fury, 38, having different contracts. Joshua’s dictated that the heavyweights must square off on British soil, while Fury’s was flexible on location.
Fury’s promoter Frank Warren recently told iFL TV: “Tyson’s contract was for it to go on elsewhere. Tyson has made this fight happen by coming to the UK.
“He could have said: ‘Contractually, I don’t have to do this.’ Tyson wants to fight because he firmly believes he is going to knock him out.”
Tyson Fury eased past Mariusz Wach in July, one day before Joshua beat Kristian Prenga (Getty)
At first, Fury did push for the fight to take place in the US, with other key figures behind the contest keen on New York City’s Madison Square Garden. However, the “Gypsy King” has relented, per Warren’s words.
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Fury and Joshua are both former two-time world heavyweight champions, and they have been linked for close to a decade.
Last time out, Fury stopped a 46-year-old Mariusz Wach in Thailand in late July, though the fight was not broadcast anywhere. One day later, Joshua fought Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia, surviving two shock knockdowns in round one to stop the Albanian unknown in round two.
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