Tyson Fury has raised concerns about Dana White and Zuffa Boxing trying to work their way into his fight with Anthony Joshua, according to a Sportsnaut report. The fight is already signed, sealed and headed to Netflix. That makes the timing of any outside promotional interest something worth squinting at.
The heavyweights are scheduled to meet December 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Turki Alalshikh posted on X that tickets go on sale Friday, October 9 at 12pm UK time (8am ET), with the event branded under The Ring Magazine and streaming live only on Netflix. Nowhere in that announcement does the word Zuffa appear, and that is the whole problem as Fury apparently sees it.
What Hearn says TKO offered
The backstory surfaced earlier this week, when Ariel Helwani shared comments from Eddie Hearn claiming TKO offered Joshua around $10 million to let the company promote Fury vs. Joshua. Hearn framed the pitch as a branding play, a chance for Zuffa Boxing to plant its flag on the biggest fight in the sport without having built it.
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“They need to be there front and center of AJ-Fury in a fight they have nothing to do with and say, ‘Look, told you, Zuffa Boxing, we are the guys. Look, biggest fight in the world,’” Hearn said.
According to Hearn, the money came with conditions. The proposal involved moving the fight to America, and Joshua would have had to appear at some WWE events. Hearn also described how the offer arrived, and he didn’t make it sound like a handshake at a press conference.
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“This was someone who came round the back and approached a member of AJ’s team with a very clear written proposal,” he said.
Those are Hearn’s claims, and neither TKO nor White has publicly confirmed the figure or the terms in the material available here. Hearn has his own grievances, too. MMA Fighting’s Morning Report noted he admitted he doesn’t care whether TKO produces Fury vs. Joshua, and he described Zuffa Boxing’s start as abysmal. White, meanwhile, has had a busy week of his own, pushing back on Oscar De La Hoya’s claim that he was being set up at the Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn fight.
Joshua, for his part, appears to be focused on the work. Gaston Reyno posted video on X of Duran, the Panamanian great known as Manos de Piedra, teaching Joshua body shots, which is a pretty good way to spend a fight camp.
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Quick take
I understand why Fury would bristle. This fight has a stadium, a date, a broadcaster and a ticket window opening Friday. If Hearn’s account is accurate, TKO wanted to pay for the logo on a house somebody else built, then relocate the house across an ocean and route the tenant through WWE appearances on the way in. For two British heavyweights who have spent years circling each other, Cardiff in December is the fight. Moving it to sell a promotional company’s origin story would have taken something real from the people who’ve waited longest to see it. The tickets go live at noon UK time on October 9, and none of them say Zuffa.
