Joshua vs Pulev: Tyson Fury ‘should be’ ringside, according to Eddie Hearn

WBC titleholder and LINEAL!!!!! heavyweight champion Tyson Fury would be welcome ringside on Dec. 12 for Anthony Joshua’s three-belt defense against Kubrat Pulev in London, and promoter Eddie Hearn said Fury “should be coming,” in a talk with Sky Sports:

“If he wants to fight Anthony Joshua, it’s not a case of calling him out, it’s called doing his research and building the fight. Tyson Fury is more than welcome to come down. I only live 45 minutes away from Wembley. He can come around on Sunday afternoon for a roast as well, if he wants, and a cuppa. We just want to get that fight made.”

The fight will have 1,000 spectators allowed at The SSE Arena, Wembley, and Hearn is hoping that Fury (30-0-1, 21 KO) will be one of them. But please keep in mind that Hearn is saying Fury “should be coming,” which can be taken a couple of ways. One is that he expects Fury to come, the other is that he simply thinks Fury ought to attend. And note that Hearn is sort of putting the onus on Fury to be there and indicate his interest in a fight with Joshua (23-1, 21 KO) in 2021. This way, if Fury doesn’t go, Hearn can work off of that, too, and then Fury can respond, and on and on.

But as we’ve now laid out over and over and over and over and over again, Fury-Joshua is almost certainly not going to be next if Joshua wins against Pulev (28-1, 14 KO) on the 12th. That takes care of Joshua’s IBF mandatory, but WBO mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk fully intends to enforce his shot next, which could happen in the spring, maybe April or May, and all that depends on getting there healthy for both guys, probably on the pandemic slowing a good deal, etc. There’s no guarantee.

Fury, too, could have to deal with Deontay Wilder a third time, depending on what happens in arbitration. We’re looking at late 2021 at the earliest for Fury-Joshua; yes, one of them could vacate a belt to make it happen sooner, but that’s not ideal. Hearn’s push to get it done is largely based on it being an undisputed championship fight, and he’s said repeatedly that Joshua will not vacate a belt, because they mean a lot to him. Fury might, because Fury is weird, but Hearn doesn’t promote Fury.

Anyway, Fury might go to that fight next week. Story of stories!