Hearn Threatens to Pull Joshua From Fury Fight

Eddie Hearn has threatened to pull Anthony Joshua out of his fight with Tyson Fury if the bout is announced for New York without a venue agreement in place.

Hearn has promoted Joshua since his professional debut in 2013, and says Joshua's contract stipulates the fight must take place in Britain. Despite that, the Matchroom chairman says everyone else involved — including Turki Alalshikh and Netflix executives — is pushing for New York City.

When organisers told Hearn they "would like to announce the fight for New York," his answer was immediate.

"No. There might even be a situation where they go for it and do announce it, and you will probably see me coming out quite quickly and say, 'No fight,'" Hearn warned.

"I promise you, if they announce that fight without an agreement in place to change the venue, there will be no fight — and we ain't bluffing. We feel really strongly that this fight should be in the UK,” Hearn

Hearn said he is considering demanding more money for Joshua as leverage to force a rethink on location, with a UK venue remaining the "dream scenario" for both fighter and promoter.