Tyson Fury contract allows venue flexibility for Joshua bout

Tyson Fury's contract for the Anthony Joshua superfight does not require the bout to take place in the United Kingdom, creating potential wiggle room in the venue discussion, BoxingScene has learned.

The revelation does not mean the long-anticipated heavyweight clash will abandon British soil for an NFL stadium in the United States, but it introduces a discrepancy between the two fighters' agreements. Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that his man's deal explicitly mandates a U.K. setting. "I don't know what [Fury's contract] says about the venue. I just know what ours says: That, exclusively, the fight must take place in the U.K.," Hearn told BoxingScene.

Zuffa Boxing barred despite Alalshikh ownership stake

Both contracts were brokered with Saudi Arabia's Turki Alalshikh and events planner Sela, covering tune-ups before the main event. Fury faces his next outing August 1 in Dublin, while Joshua meets Kristian Prenga on July 25. Hearn stressed that each fighter's contract names him and Frank Warren as promoters of record and explicitly excludes Zuffa Boxing from any promotional involvement. That provision stands despite Alalshikh owning 60 per cent of the UFC-affiliated outfit headed by Dana White and Nick Khan.

White told reporters last week that he would be promoting the Joshua-Fury fight and hinted at a non-U.K. location, with Hearn speculating Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium could be a target. Two boxing officials told BoxingScene that Alalshikh has floated SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles as a possibility. "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 Friday in Phoenix. "So we'd have to go through a new process, start a new negotiation and make sure that's good with Anthony Joshua."

Hearn insisted that Alalshikh's financial muscle does not override the written terms. "Specifically in the contract it says Dana White, Zuffa cannot have any promotional involvement in the show," he said, per BoxingScene. "Dana doesn't know about the contract for the show that we signed and negotiated." The promoter added that while Zuffa's exclusion is binding, any renegotiation would hinge on Joshua's approval and the logistics of a potential venue shift. The fighters' August and July tune-ups proceed as scheduled under the current framework.

Source: boxingscene.com