Fury-Joshua contracts bar Zuffa Boxing despite White claims

Tyson Fury's signed contract for the Anthony Joshua superfight does not require the bout to take place in the U.K., but Joshua's deal does — and both fighters have clauses locking out Dana White's Zuffa Boxing from the promotion, Eddie Hearn confirmed Friday.

Speaking to BoxingScene at a weigh-in in Arizona, Hearn said Joshua's contract mandates the fight occur exclusively in the U.K., while Fury's paperwork contains no such venue restriction. "I don't know what [Fury's contract] says about the venue," Hearn said. "I just know what ours says: That, exclusively, the fight must take place in the U.K."

White and Zuffa locked out by contract language

Hearn clarified that both fighters signed contracts stipulating he and Frank Warren remain the promoters of record, with Zuffa Boxing explicitly excluded from involvement. That stance contradicts White's comments last week, when the UFC president told reporters he would be promoting Fury-Joshua and hinted the fight might leave Britain. Hearn speculated Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium could be a target, while two boxing officials told BoxingScene that Saudi financier Turki Alalshikh floated SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles as a potential site.

The contracts run through Saudi Arabia's events arm Sela and cover two tune-up bouts for each fighter — Fury faces his next August 1 in Dublin, Joshua meets Kristian Prenga July 25 — before the long-awaited heavyweight showdown. Alalshikh owns 60 per cent of Zuffa Boxing, the upstart promotion that has drawn cease-and-desist letters from Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN over alleged fighter tampering.

Hearn acknowledged differences between the two fighters' agreements but insisted the Zuffa exclusion applies to both. "They're individual contracts," he said. The legal wrangling adds another layer to a fight that has circled the drain for years, with the August and July tune-ups now locked in as the next checkpoint.

Source: boxingscene.com