Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will meet on Dec. 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, in a 12-round heavyweight showdown. After months of promotional disputes over contract terms and venues, Netflix is officially set to stream the fight live without any drama to its members.
While the fighters remain silent, promoters Eddie Hearn and Dana White continue their weeks-long argument over who will run the event. The Matchroom chairman’s latest comments on the broadcast production point to a written contract and a specific company to back up his claims.
Eddie Hearn Says Sela Confirmed That Dana White Is Not Producing Fury-Joshua
The friction between the two promoters began when White entered the picture with his Zuffa Boxing brand. Backed by Saudi boxing financier Turki Alalshikh, White publicly claimed he would take a lead role in promoting the show. He actively pushed to hold the historic heavyweight matchup in the United States at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
White also insisted that his experienced UFC television crew would handle the event’s final production. However, Hearn consistently fought to keep the card in the United Kingdom for British fans. AJ’s contract required a U.K. venue, effectively stopping White’s plans to move the card to America. This behind-the-scenes battle over location and media control divided the promoters long before the latest contract details emerged.
On Tuesday, Hearn stated that Saudi promoter Sela confirmed in writing that neither White nor the UFC will handle production. Instead, a sports production company named Whisper already holds that contract.
“Under our contract, he can’t. So that’s really where we stand on it. Sela has confirmed to us in writing that Dana White and the UFC are not doing the production for this show,” Hearn told iFL TV.
“We will speak to Netflix and guess what? Whisper, the production company that did the production for Fury/Makhmudov, they have a contract to do the production for Fury vs. AJ on Netflix,” he added.
Still, Hearn left a small opening for the UFC boss, saying, “If they want to speak to us about changing the contract about the production, I’m open to a conversation. Show me how it looks.”
White agreed that his company may be barred from promoting the Fury vs. Joshua fight, but he found a loophole in the contract that cannot ban him personally.
Dana White Claims He Can Serve as Special Advisor Alongside Alalshikh and Netflix
Before Hearn shared the latest contract details, White revealed his own understanding of the paperwork. According to the UFC boss, the contract allows him to co-promote and produce the mega-fight in Cardiff.
“I know it says that Zuffa and TKO couldn’t be involved, but it doesn’t say I can’t be, personally,” White stated. “Is my name on the paper? I don’t give a s***. Turki wanted me to be a part of this thing, Netflix wanted me to be a part of this thing, so I am.”
Even in an interview with Sky Sports, he said, “I’m not involved in the fight? I’m sitting here promoting the fight right now… Who’s going to stop me?”
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This promotional back-and-forth shows no signs of stopping. However, the feud has not harmed the event itself. Instead, it adds drama as the boxing community moves closer to the fight date.
White remains confident that the stadium ticket sales will break records. He told Sky Sports, “I don’t want to mis-speak here, but we have this thing scaled for around $34 million… and not even arguable it’s the biggest UK fight ever between two British heavyweights.”
With both Hearn and White driving the narrative, fans are now waiting for the fighters to step up. Fury and Joshua were surprisingly respectful during their recent press conference, leaving fans eager to see if they will finally trade insults during the fight weekend.
