Eddie Hearn Declares Victory Over Dana White as Fury-Joshua Set for Dec. 11

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua came face to face in London on Wednesday, finally putting a real date on the biggest heavyweight fight Britain can make: Dec. 11 in Cardiff. Everyone who mattered was in the room — except the man who spent months insisting he was co-promoting the thing. Dana White was a no-show, and Eddie Hearn made sure nobody missed it.

The Matchroom boss didn't wait long to take his lap. Hearn has argued from day one that White couldn't be involved in the promotion because a contract wouldn't allow it, no matter what the UFC CEO told the public. With White absent from the opening presser, Hearn told The Stomping Ground the whole saga had become, in his words, one of the greatest PR disasters boxing has seen — and he barely had to lift a finger to make that case.

Hearn's Version of Events

Hearn's central claim is simple: he knew all along that White and UFC president Nick Khan couldn't sit at the table unless he personally signed off. He says White made it worse by telling the world he was promoting the event, that he knew the venue, that he'd signed a stadium deal — none of which held up. Hearn ticked off three claims he says fell apart, and framed White's absence Wednesday as proof he was right.

There's history underneath the smugness. Hearn made clear he wasn't just protecting Joshua's interests but his own company's, describing White and his camp as people who came to bulldoze boxing's establishment. His message: contracts don't bend, and Matchroom doesn't play. He called the whole battle won — then said he's happy to move on.

White, for his part, had already explained the absence on Tuesday's Contender Series, pointing to his commitments at the UFC event in Las Vegas the same night. Hearn found that funny, noting the presser didn't start until 7 p.m. and that a private jet exists for exactly this problem. The real reason, Hearn insisted, was that White simply wasn't permitted to be there.

The Fight Itself Still Delivers

Lost in the promoter feud is a genuinely huge matchup. Fury, ranked third at heavyweight with a 36-2-1 mark and 25 knockouts, hasn't shared a ring with Joshua despite years of near-misses. Joshua arrives at 29-4 with 26 stoppages, most recently flattening Jake Paul inside six rounds. Whatever happens with the executives, Cardiff gets the fight British fans have wanted for the better part of a decade.

For now, Hearn seems content to declare the backroom war over and turn his attention to Dec. 11. He got his date, his venue, and the last word at the podium. White got a night in Vegas and a lingering question about how much he was ever really involved.