Dana White and Eddie Hearn have spent the past few weeks trading shots over Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua, so it was a small surprise to hear White hand the Matchroom boss a compliment. Speaking to The Sun, in comments picked up by Bloody Elbow and BJPenn.com, the UFC CEO and Zuffa Boxing chief said he agrees with Hearn’s push to keep the heavyweight showdown on British soil instead of shipping it to New York.
“I don’t disagree,” White said. “There are a lot of different forces involved in an event like this… With how many tickets are sold in Cardiff, as big as the arena is, it would have done very well at Madison Square Garden too.”
He then went a step further and gave the opposing camp its due. “But I don’t disagree, and you’ve gotta credit Eddie and AJ for fighting hard to keep it in the UK,” White continued. “But this fight was going to do well wherever it was.”
The fight is set for Dec. 12 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff and will stream on Netflix. Tickets went on public sale this past Friday, and the Herald reports that the event is expected to generate £26 million in ticket sales alone.
How it landed in Cardiff
Getting there took some pulling. According to reports cited by BJPenn.com, Fury’s team pushed for Madison Square Garden. Joshua, who is promoted by Hearn, had already signed his side of the deal with a clause putting the fight in the UK. Fury eventually came around, and Cardiff it is.
The kind words don’t mean the feud is over. White and Hearn used to get along well enough before White moved into boxing, and the relationship has soured as this fight came together. White has said repeatedly that he will be “involved” in building the Dec. 12 event, even though the Herald notes he isn’t listed as an official promoter. Hearn has gone further, claiming White is legally barred from any role in the promotion. Earlier this month the two were publicly calling each other’s versions of events untrue, and nobody expects that to stop between now and fight night.
That leaves an odd split. White is talking like a stakeholder in a show he may have no formal part in, while praising the man who says he can’t touch it.
Quick take
Read White’s quote closely and the compliment comes with a hedge built in. He credits Hearn and Joshua, then reminds everyone the Garden would have worked too, then closes by saying the fight sells anywhere. That’s a promoter giving a rival the win without saying he lost anything. Still, Hearn was right. Fury and Joshua are two British heavyweights who spent years circling each other in front of British crowds, and a fight that carried this much domestic weight for this long belongs in a British stadium full of people who waited for it. Madison Square Garden would have been a nice night out. Principality Stadium on Dec. 12, with the roof shut and the noise coming down on two fighters from the same island, will feel like the end of something.
