Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua two-fight deal confirmed - and why Fury is favourite
Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua signed up for the fight of the century on Monday as they finally agreed terms on the biggest British boxing deal in history.
Saudi Arabia is the controversial front-runner to host the £400 million showdown, with organisers now racing to agree a location and date within weeks.
In what will rank alongside the great showdowns of modern sport, the two-fight deal will unify the world heavyweight titles and crown an undisputed champion.
Both fights are likely to take place this year, in June or July and then November or December.
Telegraph Sport understands the deal is worth £200 million per fight, and the two parties have agreed that sites must be finalised within 30 days.
Promoter Eddie Hearn caught Fury’s camp off guard by announcing the agreement after months of protracted negotiations. “All parties have now put pen to paper and we will be working hard over the next few weeks to confirm the site and date for the biggest fight in boxing,” Hearn told Sky Sports.
The biggest fight that British boxing has seen – unifying the International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Organisation, World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council heavyweight titles – surprised some in the sport after Fury, who holds the WBC belt, recently claimed it was “nowhere near”.
On Monday, Fury told Telegraph Sport that now was not the right time to comment.
In recent weeks, Hearn has cited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, China, London and Las Vegas among potential host locations. The prospect of England holding the fight, however, has been dampened by apparent concerns around the Government's roadmap towards fully releasing lockdown.
The controversial location of Saudi Arabia, which has been accused by Amnesty International of “sportswashing” following human rights abuses, has been described by Hearn as a “definite possibility”. “Saudi just did Formula E and the golf. They are not slowing down the development of sport,” he said last week.
Joshua, 31, beat Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in December to retain his IBF, WBO and WBA titles and set up the prospect of a clash with fellow Briton Fury. The winner will be the first undisputed world heavyweight champion since Britain’s Lennox Lewis in 2000, before a boxer had to also hold the WBO belt to be recognised as undisputed.
Fury was on Monday night made odds-on favourite, despite his struggles away from the ring. Joshua has 24 wins and one defeat from 25 professional bouts, while Fury is unbeaten in his 31 professional fights.
Fury won the WBA, IBF and WBO belts by beating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 but took nearly three years out of the sport battling depression and serving a backdated two-year UK Anti-Doping ban. The 32-year-old has not fought for more than a year since his knockout win against American Deontay Wilder.
Hearn said the next stage in the process of securing venues and dates was “progressing well”. He added: “Bob Arum [Fury’s promoter in the US] has said the contract is agreed and that is correct. It goes around now for everyone’s signature, so we are nearly there.”
Confirming terms on the deal on Monday, Hearn said: “We’d like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month. I actually feel we’ve done the hard part.”
The contract would have the fighters receiving a 50-50 split in the first bout and a 60-40 split in the rematch, with the winner getting the higher share. “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,” Hearn said.
Fury ignited a global furore last year when he thanked controversial promoter Daniel Kinahan, co-founder of management company MTK Global, for helping initially set up the Joshua fight. All parties have since said the Irishman – linked by investigators to an alleged global drugs and arms empire, which he vigorously denies – would not be involved further.
Why Fury is favourite to win world's biggest fight
By Gareth A Davies
The heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury – which will be the biggest fight in British boxing history – could see the rivals each earn £200 million as part of a two-fight deal. But the title of undisputed world champion is the real prize.
Both men are in the prime of their careers and are gargantuan athletes, but their boxing styles could hardly be more different. The purists will favour Fury, simply because of his ring skills and fighting knowhow. Fury, 32, has an awkwardness and movement which defies his 6ft 9in height and 19½-stone frame, and makes him a difficult opponent to hit.
Fury, the World Boxing Council champion, has an ability to read his opponent’s punches, making him a dangerous rival for anyone in the blue-riband division. He also carries the confidence of being undefeated in 31 fights, and combines power as well as skill when he is on the front foot.
Joshua, 31, who holds the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Organisation and International Boxing Federation belts, has developed with each performance, though there are question marks about the strength of his chin, although his power makes him – at his best – as good a finisher as anyone in the division. After blasting through opponents with a fearlessness, and ruthlessness, Joshua’s style has become more refined in his last two performances. As the 6ft 6in tall, 18st man mountain often admits, as does his long-time coach Robert McCracken, the young sensation who won Olympic superheavyweight gold at the London 2012 Games is a work in progress as a champion fighter. Joshua will need to be compact, and defensively savvy against the self-styled Gypsy King, whose family are steeped in boxing – 10 generations of bare-knuckle fighters. Fury was boxing as soon as he could walk and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the noble art and heavyweight lineage.
Both men have been knocked down – and climbed off the canvas again – in fights that have tested their mettle.
Fury was felled in the ninth and 12th rounds in his first contest with WBC champion Deontay Wilder in Los Angeles in Dec 2018, but went on to earn a controversial draw against the American, a fight many observers believed the Briton had won by three rounds.
In his second meeting with Wilder, he eviscerated the champion in seven rounds of aggression. That about-turn in fortunes showed Fury’s ability to change tack. But it will have been 18 months out of the ring by the time he steps in against Joshua. That inactivity could prove to be a massive factor in this fight.
Joshua last fought in December, so inactivity is not an issue. In his epic fight with Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in 2017, Joshua showed huge heart, stamina, and a second wind after being felled by the great Ukrainian, to come back and finish his foe in the 11th round.
Fury, it is worth recalling, bamboozled Klitschko to claim three of the world title belts in Germany in 2015, showing how he is able to nullify the jab with ease. That could be highly significant against Joshua.
For all of Joshua’s punching power and finishing ability, the mental scar of the loss to Andy Ruiz on his American debut in June 2019 has affected his confidence and may be another telling factor in this fight.
Joshua had Ruiz hurt and down in the third round of that contest, but was caught off guard by the smaller man who came back to drop him four times. His chin was exposed in that fight and that too could be a telling factor.
There could be signs in Joshua’s last two performances – the victory in the rematch with Ruiz, and his triumph over Kubrat Pulev in December – that Joshua has developed a new style which sees his hands higher, and his jab more effective. Joshua arguably has faster hand speed than Fury, but timing could also be key in the exchanges between the two fighters in this contest.
Joshua will need, in my view, to get the fight finished by the middle rounds against his rival when they have their dust-up, most likely in the Arabian desert, in June or July, and it is unlikely that Fury will go toe-to-toe with his fellow British fighter, preferring perhaps to use his boxing skills to mesmerise Joshua. The debate will rage for several months now in the build-up to the contest, but from my standpoint, Fury enters the contest as the marginal favourite, given the fact that he can adapt his game plan in what will be a fascinating battle of skill and nerve.
