Fury contract has no U.K. venue lock for Joshua fight

Tyson Fury's contract for the Anthony Joshua superfight does not require the fight to take place in the United Kingdom, BoxingScene learned this week, opening the door to potential venue disputes even as promoter Eddie Hearn insists the bout remains locked to British soil.

Hearn confirmed to BoxingScene that Joshua's deal explicitly mandates a U.K. location, while Fury's agreement with Saudi financier Turki Alalshikh contains no such clause. "I don't know what [Fury's contract] says about the venue," Hearn said Friday in Phoenix. "I just know what ours says: That, exclusively, the fight must take place in the U.K."

Hearn rules out Zuffa Boxing involvement

Both fighters have signed contracts naming Hearn and Frank Warren as the promoters of record, Hearn said, with language barring Zuffa Boxing and UFC president Dana White from any promotional role. That contradicts White's claim last week that he would be promoting the bout, which Hearn dismissed as an attempt to attach Zuffa's struggling boxing brand to the biggest fight in the sport. "Specifically in the contract it says Dana White, Zuffa cannot have any promotional involvement in the show," Hearn told reporters after the Rodriguez-Vargas weigh-in.

White last week hinted the fight might leave the U.K., and Hearn said he has heard Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium floated as a possible venue. Two boxing officials told BoxingScene that Alalshikh has proposed SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, which hosts the 2027 Super Bowl, as another option.

Hearn acknowledged that Alalshikh, who bankrolls both fighters' tune-up bouts and the main event, could push to relocate the fight but would need to renegotiate Joshua's contract to do so. "If Turki Alalshikh wants to hold the fight in another country, that's not necessarily a problem, but contractually he cannot do that," Hearn said. Joshua faces Kristian Prenga on July 25, while Fury meets an opponent in Dublin on August 1.

Source: boxingscene.com