Anthony Joshua’s management company says they have agreed to terms for a fight with Tyson Fury at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on December 3.
258 Management tweeted that they accepted the terms last Friday, but agreed to stop all communications due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Last week, Fury, the WBC champion, had given Joshua, the two-time WBA, WBO and IBF champion, 24 hours to agree to the terms of a fight, offering him a short 60-40 finish in all proceeds for a fight in November. December 24 or 3, with a rematch clause that would be on a 50-50 basis.
Joshua, who lost his rematch to Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah on August 20, had originally asked for December 17.
“258 and Matchroom Boxing can confirm, on behalf of Anthony Joshua, that we agree to all terms presented to us by the Fury team for a fight on Friday, December 3. Due to the death of the Queen, it was agreed to suspend all communication. We are waiting for a response,” the tweet from 258 management read.
Within moments a response came from Frank Warren’s Twitter account: “The contract will be with you very soon.”
December 17 had been the originally scheduled date for an undisputed world heavyweight title fight between Fury and Usyk, a fight that was expected to take place in Saudi Arabia. But when Usyk said that he would not be ready to box this year, Fury made it clear that he wanted to box before the end of the year.
Warren, Fury’s promoter, said they wanted to go in November or early December to increase the chance of an Usyk fight in February or March.
Saudi Arabian Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud said they want to stage the undisputed title fight in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, in an open-air stadium, meaning it could not take place. held during the summer when temperatures are extreme, with daytime temperatures in between. -40 and staying in the mid-30s at night.
A December 10 date would not be possible as that night would likely mean a clash with England in the World Cup quarter-finals.
Many will come as a surprise that plans for a fight have gone this far, as Fury’s initial offer on social media to Joshua is not considered serious.
Whether the offer was serious or not, Joshua accepted. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, was preparing him for a series of comeback fights and possibly a world tour, while Fury had engaged in crossword puzzles on social media with former WBA champion Mahmoud Charr, hinting that the Syrian with based in Germany would be his next opponent.
Joshua has boxed twice at the Principality Stadium, beating Carlos Takam and Joseph Parker in back-to-back fights in 2017 and 2018. The stadium is unavailable in November when four Welsh rugby union matches are held.
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was a boxing correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001 to 2019, covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights around the world. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications around the world since the 1980s.
