Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are finally closing in on the all-British heavyweight superfight fans have chased for over a decade. Both fighters have signed contracts for the bout. Netflix has already aired a promotional trailer teasing the blockbuster matchup, with reports pointing to Nov. 20 as the target date.
Getting here required navigating a venue dispute, financial tension, and public insults from Tyson Fury. This week, the conflict escalated when Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn threatened to pull AJ from this fight.
Eddie Hearn Stands Firm on Anthony Joshua’s Contract
Joshua’s original contract required the fight to take place in the UK. However, organizers are trying to move the bout to Madison Square Garden because the finances for a British event are no longer as profitable for them.
This change created a dispute over scheduling and money, with both fighters originally projected to earn at least $100 million each. Hearn addressed the financial standoff at a Matchroom Boxing press conference.
“What [the organisers] want to do is they want to pay Anthony Joshua less money because that’s how it’ll work out with the difference in location, they want him to do a load of additional stuff,” Hearn said.
🚨 ‘SAUDIS HAVE ALREADY BREACHED AJ’S CONTRACT’
👀 Eddie Hearn: “What [the Saudis] want to do is they want to pay Anthony Joshua less money because that’s how it’ll work out with the difference in location, they want him to do a load of additional stuff — I’m not going to blow… pic.twitter.com/93BO1NpD8M
— EverythingBoxing | Darshan Desai (@EverythingBoxi2) August 23, 2026
Hearn made it clear he is trying to protect the fight, not kill it. He isn’t threatening to pull Joshua out, but he wanted everyone to know that the other side has already broken parts of their original deal.
“I’m not going to blow things up, which I could do so easily, but there has been breaches in AJ’s contract already which we’ve let slide because these guys are our partners and our friends or WERE [our friends]. There’s a game being played at the moment,” Hearn said.
The friction didn’t come out of nowhere. Dana White claimed credit for brokering the Netflix deal and securing the venue, but he dismissed the ongoing contract disputes earlier this week.
“Contracts and this and that? There’s a lot of f—— money up for grabs in this fight. Do you want to fight or do you not want to fight? I don’t give a s one way or the other,” White said. He added that he would be perfectly happy if the event stayed in the UK.
Fury added to the chaos by posting on social media that Joshua’s camp was stalling the fight by demanding more money. Days later, reports emerged that the sides were working out terms for New York.
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This back-and-forth reflects months of public posturing from both camps since they signed the initial fight agreements.
What Eddie Hearn’s Comments Mean for the November Date
Hearn’s choice to protect the fight despite contract breaches shows that both camps still want the bout to happen on schedule. However, Joshua’s camp is not willing to give up his rights or accept less money just to get the deal done.
Instead of backing down, Matchroom is holding firm to the original UK contract terms to force organizers into a fairer deal for the New York location. This strict stance complicates the final stages of a long negotiation and highlights the fading trust between Hearn and his promotional partners.
The exact details of the extra work organizers want Joshua to do remain private. What is clear is that moving the fight to MSG changes the financial terms entirely, and Joshua’s team refuses to take a pay cut for it.
With Netflix already promoting the event for November, the final hurdle is getting the organizers to respect the financial terms of the signed deal. An official venue and date confirmation are still expected by the end of August once these money issues are resolved.
