Tyson Fury doesn’t strike us as an easy man to negotiate with.
The controversial heavyweight has never been much of a compromiser and he’s holding firm with his demands for a potential clash with Anthony Joshua in late 2018.
Fury’s long-awaited comeback took a huge step in the right direction last week when he saw his UK Anti-Doping ban backdated two years, meaning he is free to return to the ring pending the reinstatement of his boxing licence.
The British Boxing Board of Control also agreed to review Fury’s suspended licence in January so everything was going according to plan for ‘2 Fast’, who has already shed almost four stone as he aims to get back into fighting shape.
Well on his way https://t.co/mpzsaKtaje
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) December 16, 2017
Fury plans to shake off any potential ring rust with a pair of tune-up fights in the first half of 2018 before he sets his sights on the fight that every fan wants to see.
Talks have already taken place between Fury and Anthony Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, but it’s safe to say that they didn’t go very well
“The only way Fury is going to get the Joshua fight is with us,” Hearn said, via the Independent.
“So I’ve been talking to Fury about a plan which would lead to the Joshua fight.
“I said to him ‘we can’t talk about the Joshua fight now, because you can’t expect to have a conversation about it when you haven’t boxed for two years.’ He might come back and stink the place out and have small value in the fight.
“He came back to me and said ‘right, I’ll make it really easy for you and give you a deal that you will accept straight away’. Then he said: ‘I want a 60/40 split and all the champion’s benefits. I want to walk second, it’s my name on the poster and I want choice of changing rooms’.
“It made me laugh, I said ‘that’s great, yeah, good joke’. But he was deadly serious. He says Joshua is only where he is because of him. Then I realised he was actually serious with those terms.”
Hearn recently offered to sign Fury to his Matchroom stable, which would make it much easier to make the fight, but that doesn’t look like it will come to fruition.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcpI1l1DVQW/
If Fury decides to pledge his loyalty to BoxNation’s Frank Warren, as is expected, then it will add a significant stumbling block when it comes to agreeing upon a broadcast location for the bout.
“I think he probably will go with Frank which will make the fight unlikely won’t it?” Hearn added. “Obviously we are with different broadcasters. I don’t think it would warrant a dual broadcast with Sky and BT.
“But to be honest, more worrying than that is that we are so far from a deal. This fight is unmakeable. It’s not even as if we are within 5, 10, 15 or 20 per cent. Fury is a voluntary challenger for two titles.
& @Tyson_Fury get fit you fat fuck
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyjoshua) November 9, 2017
“Let’s make it clear that he has a lot of value in the fight, it’s not like we see him as 20 per cent, but at the moment we should not even be considering this fight until we see if he can actually do something rather than just talk about but that’s all I see.
“All I see is someone that has got six stone to go and talks a good game but let’s see him back in the ring.
“Tyson Fury says it’s not about the money, it’s about the legacy but if you give me a load of money I’ll take the fight. Who Tyson Fury goes with is purely about who pays him the most money. It’s very simple. It doesn’t matter if it’s me, or Frank or Sid Snot.”
