The undisputed world heavyweight title bout between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury is on after the British pair signed a two-fight deal, promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed.
A date and venue for arguably the most eagerly anticipated clash in British boxing history is yet to be confirmed, but the announcement is a huge step after lengthy negotiations.
Confirming the deal, Hearn said: “The hard part is always getting everybody to put pen to paper.
“But this was a major effort from all parties to get this over the line. You had rival promoters, rival networks and rival fighters.
“We’ve already had approaches from eight or nine sites. The offers have come from multiple countries in the Middle East, from Asia, Eastern Europe and America.”
The deal is understood to represent a 50-50 split for the first fight, with the winner taking the larger 60% share for a rematch.
Hearn’s announcement comes just days after Fury insisted in an interview with iFL TV that the fight against Joshua was “nowhere near” being made.
Fury added that he had stopped training and was drinking up to 12 pints of lager a day.
Fury said: “Until I’ve got a date and a load of money in my pocket, there’s no fight.
“There’s a lot of things going on that people don’t know behind the scenes that can scupper a fight like that. We’re nowhere near at the moment.
“I’ve stopped training now, I’m on holiday. I’m doing anything between eight to 10 to 12 pints of lager a day at the minute - I’m not eating though, so I’m just getting my calories through alcohol.”
Joshua eased past Kubrat Pulev in his last fight in December while Fury has not fought since his rematch win over Deontay Wilder over a year ago.
Additional reporting by PA.
