By Adam Baskin: Eddie Hearn says he basically got a take-it-or-leave-it offer from Tyson Fury’s team during negotiations for Anthony Joshua.
Although Hearn admits that he was unhappy with much of the offer, he was left with no choice but to accept or leave.
Hearn says he accepted the offer for Dec. 3 with a 60-40 split and a 50-50 rematch clause, should Joshua beat Fury.
This was an opportunity Hearn didn’t want to turn down because Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) might not get another chance to fight Fury.
With Fury about to fight unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and talking about retiring, Hearn didn’t want to miss out on fighting Joshua while he still had the chance.
Joshua’s two recent losses against the highly rated Usyk make no sense for this matter because Fury isn’t as quick on his feet or as hard to hit.
If Joshua can land on Fury’s body, he has an excellent chance of getting the air out of his tires.
“We received an offer; We try to negotiate the offer. We weren’t happy with much, but they told us unequivocally: ‘There is no movement. Take it or leave,’ and we said, ‘We take it,'” Eddie Hearn told iFL TV of his attempts to negotiate a better deal for Anthony Joshua for a fight against Tyson Fury.
“AJ has wanted that fight for so long. He accepted all the terms that Tyson Fury put on him. We accept it on Friday. We are still waiting for the contract. I spoke to George Warren this morning and he said that he will have it in the next few days.
“I hope that December 3 will come true. There is no reason why it shouldn’t work. No one on your team makes me feel like I shouldn’t. I don’t want to get too excited just yet. do not forget; we signed for this fight before. Hopefully, we can sign him again, and it will happen.
“We still have to work out the broadcast situation, but BT and DAZN are very excited and the talks will be very proactive and productive for those guys to work together and move forward. It is the biggest fight in boxing. Everyone wants to be a part of it. There are still conversations to be had,” Hearn said.
