BEVERLY HILLS, August 23, (THEWILL) – Heavyweight Champ Anthony Joshua is willing to take a pay cut to fight behind closed doors as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, promoter Eddie Hearn says.
Tyson Fury is also ready for a return to the ring and has informed his matchmaker, Frank Warren, he wants a December fight, whatever the restrictions in place. Joshua has told Hearn a similar thing.
Hearn revealed to SunSport that “AJ wants to fight this year — and he will fight.
“Hopefully by December we will be in a situation where we can have a full, or close-to-full, O2.
“Because when you talk about no crowds causing a hole in budgets, his is around £5m.
“To counter that, we either have to find a site fee from someone or a way to bring crowds back.
“But he will fight, he has to, otherwise it will be a year out of the ring. We have to get him back in 2020.
“I would put him on behind closed doors now, yes. The numbers wouldn’t be as good — but he is prepared to do it.”
Hearn reveals that the ongoing uncertainty the pandemic has brought about means there are now more options on the table.
He said: “Right now, the plan is still to fight Pulev, as he is the mandatory challenger.
“But this situation has put everything up in the air and there are a lot of moving parts.
“Anything can happen because people have to deliver more value.
“Joshua wants to fight Fury but he wants the WBC belt — the only one he is missing — more.
“He could fight Fury for it, he could fight Dillian Whyte for it. But that is now the belt he wants.”
For a decade, Matchroom chief Hearn and Queensberry boss, Warren, have avoided each other at all costs.
However, Warren and his BT broadcasters dispatched a public challenge to the competition last month in order to set up some mouth-watering cross- stable clashes.
Hearn said: “I don’t want to sound arrogant but we have been competitors for ten years and they have written us probably two dozen legal letters, complained about us to the Board and slagged us off.
“And now we are No 1 and they are struggling, so they want us to work together.
“I won’t be arrogant enough to say ‘f*** off’, so if it works for our broadcasters and fighters I will look at it. But personally I am happy with what we are doing.
“I don’t think Sky has any desire to partner with BT on boxing — and Matchroom has no desire to partner with Frank Warren. But we do have a desire to make good fights.
“It’s been a strange relationship, I have just been in my own lane and they have always tried to run me off the road.
“So I have no desire to just say, ‘Let’s hold hands and help each other,’ because they haven’t tried to help me for the last ten years.”
