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The biggest fight that can be made in boxing has been signed according to ESPN, and it happened just one day after one of the fighters’ promoters told fans: “go f*** yourselves”.
Lineal and WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and unified heavyweight champion (WBA, WBO, IBF) Anthony Joshua have signed a two-fight deal according to ESPN’s Mark Kriegel.
In short, ESPN reported on Monday that the “hard part” was now over in regards to negotiations for the superfight boxing match.
The contract is signed ✍️
Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn tells @MarkKriegel a deal has been signed for Joshua to face @Tyson_Fury in a two-fight series.
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More Talks Coming, Fight Might Not Happen
Still to be sorted are the rest of the important details around the fight, including where it will happen and when it will take place.
“We’d like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month,” said Eddie Hearn per ESPN. “The hard part is always getting everybody to put pen to paper. But this was a major effort from all parties to get this over the line. You had rival promoters, rival networks and rival fighters.”
As Joshua’s promoter, Hearn represents just one side of the equation, but the ESPN story also included a quote from a source over at Top Rank, one of the two companies that promote Fury.
“It’s pending, finding a site and a date that’s acceptable to both (fighters’ camps). We have 30 days from the signing, or the deal could go away,” a Top Rank source told ESPN.
Assuming the deal goes through, the winner of Fury vs. Joshua would crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis accomplished the feat over 20 years ago.
Just yesterday, though, founder and president of Top Rank, Bob Arum, had strong words to say to angry fights fans who were sick and tired of waiting around for the megafight to be announced.
“You know what I say? Go f*** yourself. Find a life. That’s what I would say to them,” Arum said per Boxing Scene.
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Biggest Fight in British Boxing History?
Fury vs. Joshua is likely to be considered the biggest fight in British boxing history because it would be the first time two fighters from England would duke it out to become boxing’s undisputed heavyweight champion.
England is considered by historians to be the birthplace of professional boxing, but the country hasn’t fared all that well in regards to crowning a world heavyweight champion.
Indeed, it took almost a full century for Lewis in 1999 to become the next undisputed heavyweight champion from England after Bob Fitzsimmons accomplished the feat in 1897.
Lewis picked up his first title belt in 1992, and he became the undisputed champ in 1999 when he won his rematch vs. Evander Holyfield.
Like Lewis in 1992, both Fury and Joshua hold different parts of the heavyweight championship puzzle right now, but the winner of the proposed showdown would undisputedly become the heavyweight champion of the world.
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Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua: ‘Go F*** Yourselves’