Hearn: Fury vs Joshua Is Drifting to New York, and He Hates It

Eddie Hearn says the biggest all-British heavyweight fight on the board — Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua — is quietly being pulled toward New York, and the Matchroom boss isn't pretending he's happy about it. The catch: both sides already signed a contract to stage the bout in the UK, and Hearn insists nothing official can be announced until that deal is renegotiated. A month in, he says, there hasn't even been a conversation about keeping it at home.

The names alone explain the pull. Fury (36-2-1, 25 KO) sits at #3 in the heavyweight rankings and last stopped Mariusz Wach in the seventh. Joshua (29-4, 26 KO) is unranked at the moment but is coming off a sixth-round knockout of Jake Paul. Between them they carry 51 KOs and enough box-office weight to make governments, streamers and Saudi money all want a say in the postcode.

What Hearn Actually Said

Hearn's frustration is that the answer keeps coming back the same. He says Fury has agreed to fight in America, while Matchroom hasn't, and that everyone involved seems set on New York with no appetite to even talk to Sadiq Khan or Transport for London about a London staging. According to Hearn, the pushback is blunt — Netflix wants it in America, and Turki Alalshikh wants it in America.

His pitch, then, is transactional. Hearn says he doesn't want to move the venue or the host country, but if the other side is that desperate for New York, Matchroom will help — provided they agree to changes in the contract. Do the things discussed and agreed in principle, he suggests, and there's a very good chance the fight lands stateside. It's a negotiation dressed up as a favor.

Why It Matters

The distinction Hearn keeps drawing — signed for the UK, not signed for the US — is the whole story here. He described the situation as disappointing but ultimately out of his hands, noting the impasse has dragged on for a month with no movement. That's a long time for a fight this size to sit in limbo over geography rather than money or matchmaking.

For fans on both sides of the Atlantic, the practical takeaway is simple: don't expect a firm date and location until that contract is reworked. Hearn has effectively confirmed the momentum is with America, even as he plants his flag on the original UK terms. Until someone blinks on paper, the announcement everyone's waiting for stays parked.