Eddie Hearn on Fury vs. Joshua: Fight Must Stay in Britain

Eddie Hearn is digging in his heels. Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua, he insists, belongs in Britain – and no amount of noise from Dana White is going to drag it across the Atlantic.

The long-awaited all-British heavyweight showdown has drifted into a political tug-of-war, with White accusing Hearn of blocking the fight and calling the situation “the weirdest thing ever.” From Hearn’s side, the story is very different: the deal is already done, the contract is already signed, and the only battle left is over geography.

U.K. or U.S. That’s the fault line.

Hearn vs. Dana: A Power Play in Public

Speaking to iFL TV, Hearn fired back with a pointed accusation of his own. In his view, White is trying to crash a party that was never his.

“Dana White has tried to get involved in a fight that he has nothing to do with and to get Sela to break their contract, scrap a British fight, and bring it to America,” Hearn said, making it clear where he believes the disruption started. For Hearn, the position is simple: “We’ve signed our contract. Just honor the contract that we’ve signed.”

He framed Joshua as the immovable object in the middle of a storm of money and influence. According to Hearn, Joshua has already turned down a bigger purse to keep the fight on home soil.

“He cares where the fight is. He cares about British boxing, and he cares about the contract that he signed,” Hearn said. White, Hearn argued, believes “you can throw a little bit of money at someone and they’ll dance to your f*cking tune. Well, guess what? Not on A.J.’s watch.”

The message is blunt: if Fury vs. Joshua happens, it will not be in America. Not because the money wasn’t there, but because Joshua refused to chase it.

Contract Signed, Venue in Limbo

On paper, the fight is alive and aligned. Fury and Joshua both did their part recently, banking stay-busy wins over Mariusz Wach and Kristian Prenga to keep the super-fight on track after Ring Magazine flagged the end of 2026 as the target window.

Yet there is still no date. No city. No stadium.

Hearn insists the holdup is not coming from his side. He claims that offers with more money for a U.S. staging have been on the table, and Joshua has repeatedly said no.

“Anthony Joshua could have taken many millions more to do the fight in America and it was totally on him,” Hearn said. The promoter even pointed out the obvious: if Joshua earns more, so does he. “You’re saying it’s the only thing I care about, yet when I want to do the fight in Britain, it’s ‘fake patriotism.’ I thought I was crazy about money. What is it?”

Hearn’s argument leans heavily on principle and public mood. He says the reaction from fans online – on his channels and Joshua’s – has only strengthened their resolve to keep the fight in the U.K.

“They’re sulking because they can’t be involved,” Hearn said of those pushing for an American venue, taking clear aim at White’s earlier public confidence about knowing where the fight would land. “We are not the same. And I promise you one thing, we are not the same.”

Public Pressure and a British Stand

Behind the scenes, there was a moment when the fight looked like it might be wrestled away. Hearn admits they explored terms that could have taken the bout to the U.S. The money, he says, “probably was deliverable” and broadly agreed.

Then the British public roared.

Joshua, having seen the reaction, drew a line. Presented with two offers – one richer but American, one in line with the original U.K.-based contract – he went back to the first deal.

“He turned around to me with the two offers on the table and said, ‘No, I just want to stick to the original contract. I want to do this fight in the U.K.,’” Hearn revealed.

That decision, Hearn says, flipped the dynamic. The U.S. push, in his telling, hit a wall. “They couldn’t believe that A.J. was standing firm on the U.K.,” he said. Accusations followed that this was really Hearn’s personal feud with White. Hearn brushed that off. “I don’t give a f*ck. A.J. makes the decisions.”

For now, the machinery is grinding away on a British staging. Hearn says he has been in “constant communication” – not renegotiation, he stressed, because the contract is already signed – with Netflix and Sela, and believes they are “in a great position to move forward.”

The final word, he says, will come from Turki Alalshikh, who is expected to confirm dates and venue once everything is locked in. Hearn is optimistic that within a week, an announcement could land – and that it will be for a U.K. fight.

“If we do, there will be unbelievable celebrations from the British public,” he said, even joking that Joshua “should be knighted in the process.”

Cardiff, Wembley, and the Noise of a Nation

As for where in Britain, the debate has already started.

Principality Stadium in Cardiff has emerged as a serious contender. Hearn admits that’s his personal preference, while accepting that Wembley Stadium, with its global profile, holds obvious appeal.

Either way, he wants it clear that Joshua is the one calling the shots.

“The reason that I’m doing this is because I want the fight in the U.K., but my instructions from Anthony Joshua are make sure this fight is in the U.K.,” Hearn said. He underlined the weight of the public push: “You cannot underestimate the noise and the patriotism and the support of people online. And Turki sees that.”

Hearn named White and WWE executive Nick Khan as the key figures who have “tried desperately to bring this fight to the U.S. and not to stage this fight in the U.K.” White’s opposition to a British venue, Hearn argued, has been the “big problem.”

Now, he believes the tide has turned. The resistance from his camp has forced others to acknowledge what this fight represents on home soil.

“This is massive in the U.K. and it will be,” Hearn said. “We get this fight over the line for the U.K., wait until you see the reaction. It could be the biggest sporting event ever in the U.K. We know it’s the biggest fight ever.”

The contracts are signed. The fighters are winning. The money is there.

All that remains is a map, a stadium, and a decision that will define where British boxing’s biggest night is written into history.