LONDON — Two days after Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua were officially announced to meet at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on 11 December live globally on Netflix, the long-awaited heavyweight showdown was plunged into fresh uncertainty as Dana White said he had "no idea" whether the fight or Wednesday's scheduled London news conference would go ahead.
White, the UFC president and Zuffa Boxing chief named as a promoter for the event alongside Turki Alalshikh's The Ring, made the comments Saturday at London's Copper Box where Johnny Fisher beat Michael Pirotton on his Zuffa Boxing debut. Asked whether Wednesday's news conference would take place, White said, "I have no idea," and later added, "The guy who is supposed to be helping the fight has been hurting the fight. He hasn't done the fight any favours," in pointed criticism of Matchroom's Eddie Hearn.
The dispute centers on promotional rights omitted from Thursday's announcement, which was presented as a collaboration between Alalshikh's The Ring and White with no mention of Hearn, who has promoted Joshua throughout his professional career, or Queensberry's Frank Warren, Fury's long-time promoter. Hearn said Joshua's contract specifically prevented White and American sports entertainment company TKO from having a promotional role and claimed Netflix had not been made aware of that provision, citing breaches that needed to be resolved. Fury said a similar restriction originally appeared in his own contract but was removed because he wanted White involved, while Warren said White had helped secure the Netflix deal and compromises had been necessary to get the fight made.
Uncertainty intensified Friday evening amid reports the 11 December date could feature replacement bouts, including Ryan Garcia against recently retired three-weight undisputed champion Terence Crawford — a suggestion Crawford publicly questioned. In a video posted on social media, Crawford claimed Joshua and Hearn were "trying to pull out" and blamed the dispute largely on Hearn's objection to White. There has been no announcement from Joshua saying he intends to withdraw. Alalshikh posted pictures with White and later shared a cryptic message in Arabic about somebody attempting to "stab you where you told them it hurts" without explicit reference to Fury-Joshua, while Hearn posted a picture with a shushing emoji and the message: "Bet against me." White also rejected a suggestion on Saturday's US broadcast that he was helping Alalshikh on a personal level rather than acting as a promoter, saying, "I don't know where that came from. That was weird," and teased his own attendance Wednesday with, "I guess I'll leave that as a surprise."
As of Saturday night Netflix continued to list Fury against Joshua at the Principality Stadium on 11 December and said the fighters would attend Wednesday's news conference, but the contractual disagreement remains unresolved. There is too much money, time and work invested for anyone to walk away lightly, but after a decade of negotiations an agreement does not necessarily mean the fight is safe. The bout, announced to contest the vacant WBA 'Super' title, now waits for another hurdle to be cleared.