Eddi Hearn says representatives in Saudi Arabia are looking to assemble a monstrous two-fight card on the night, involving Anthony Joshua battling Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury & Oleksandr Usyk fighting for the undisputed heavyweight championship, with fighters hauling in $400 million in combined purses.
If this card gets made, it will be huge because both fights are massive enough on their separate event.
Hearn says he will be going out next week to the Middle East to work on the deal, and he’s hopeful that he can get his side of the deal done.
If Joshua fights in December, Hearn says it’s likely that he won’t take an interim contest in July because he feels that the organizers won’t want to take a chance of him losing or getting injured before his massive match in Saudi Arabia.
Hearn didn’t go into which of the two fights would be the headliner for the Saudi card in December, but the reps will probably want Joshua’s fight against former WBC champion Wilder to be the main event. Wilder’s one-punch power and Joshua’s fighting style will make this a drama-filled battle for as long as it lasts.
Fury vs. Usyk lacks the same pizzazz as Joshua-Wilder. Fury is a mauler who does a lot of holding, wrestling & leaning. For his part, Usyk is a mover, and he’ll likely be trying to frustrate Fury the entire fight.
“For AJ, his big fight will be in the Middle East, and it will come in December, and that will be Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder,” said Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about Anthony Joshua’s plans for a massive fight in December in Saudi Arabia.
“There have definitely been conversations that have taken place where people would like to host Fury against Usyk and AJ against Wilder on the same night. It will cost a lot of money, but it would be our pick, and we will have those conversations,” Hearn continued.
“Our focus is to get that big mega-fight in December over the line. There is no official decision in terms of whether AJ will fight in July.”
Boxing fans on social media are understandably skeptical that this mouth-watering two-fight card can get made because it sounds too good to be true. It’s not that the Saudis don’t have the money and will to put this card together.
It’s more of the combination of egos and greed by the fighters foiling it from taking place. It’s predictable to some fans that Fury will sink the card by getting greedy and winding up whiffing on the fight, as he did last year in his negotiations with Joshua and most recently in his talks for a fight with Usyk.
