Eddie Hearn unsure Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury can be staged in the UK without purse cuts

As Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn attempts to hammer out a deal to stage what could be an undisputed heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury, Hearn says the location of the prospective fight is the next item on the agenda.

While it would be natural to stage a fight between the two British heavyweight champions in the UK, the limited capacity crowds caused by the ongoing pandemic makes that a real difficulty.

So talking to Sky Sports, Hearn says he’s going to have to weigh alternative options for Joshua-Fury alongside Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, specifically acknowledging that both fighters might have to take a serious purse reduction to do the fight at home.

“Obviously we all would like this fight to take place in the UK but you’ve seen London go into Tier 4 now...Both fighters will have to take a significant reduction in purse for this fight to take place in the UK, unfortunately. Probably half and, without a crowd, maybe 80 per cent.”

Hearn goes on to say that it’s in everyone’s best interest to try to maximize the revenue for a fight of this significance so taking all offers into consideration will be the obvious move, and there are many countries clearly interested in hosting the fight.