Eddie Hearn Shuts Down Shock Rumors: No Deal Signed for Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury Showdown!

promoter Eddie Hearn has moved to pour cold water on reports that a blockbuster heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury has been agreed, flatly contradicting claims made by respected boxing journalist Gareth A Davies that the all-British fight is signed and set for Netflix.

Davies had told talkSPORT that the contest was finalised in the background and backed by major financial interests, stating, “The Fury-Joshua fight is signed. Okay, it is signed in the background. I’ve got that on good authority. It’s with the big money people. It’ll be on Netflix.”

Hearn, however, was unequivocal in his rebuttal, telling The Stomping Ground that nothing of the sort was in place.

“There is absolutely nothing signed with Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury next. There is nothing agreed,” he said.

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The promoter acknowledged that deep conversations had taken place about the fight before Joshua’s life was upended by the horror car crash on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on December 29, which claimed the lives of his friends, personal trainer Kevin Ayodele and recovery therapist Sina Ghami, just 10 days after the British-Nigerian boxer had stopped Jake Paul in six rounds in Miami.

“There have been conversations — deep conversations prior to the accident — that he was going to fight Jake Paul, then fight in February or March in Saudi Arabia, then fight Tyson Fury. Then obviously the accident happened.

“There have been no conversations really about that fight, other than in the last few days, conversations about starting to think about revisiting the plan,” Hearn said.

Joshua has since resumed training and is working towards a summer comeback, with Dillian Whyte’s name circulating as a potential opponent for his return fight. Should he come through that unscathed, a Fury bout could follow later in the year.

Fury, meanwhile, makes his own ring return on April 11 when he faces knockout specialist Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on a Netflix card that also features Conor Benn. The Gypsy King had announced his retirement from the sport over a year ago before reversing that decision.

Anthony Joshua’s Comeback Nears, but Eddie Hearn Issues Clear Warning to Fans

Eddie Hearn has said he expects Anthony Joshua to box again after the heavyweight’s involvement in a fatal car crash, but the promoter is making no promises

On 29 December, Joshua was injured in a car accident in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of his close friends. Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele had been members of the British heavyweight’s team for the majority of “AJ”’s professional career, and their deaths have led to much speculation over Joshua’s fighting future.

Yet Joshua, 36, returned to the gym two weeks later, after attending the funerals of Ghami and Ayodele and before posting an emotional video message for his fans.

In that video, the former two-time world champion did not address his future in the ring, but his promoter Hearn has continued to field questions on the matter.

“I don’t think there is any guarantees he fights again, but at the same time, I expect him to because it is something that he loves,” the Matchroom boss told First Round TV.

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“And it is something he can carry those guys with him through as well, and it is something he wants to do. From a boxing sense, physically it wasn’t easy what he went through either. People probably don’t realise the extent of that.

“He has been training, but he is not ready yet and won’t be for a while to return to [full] boxing training.

“Before this terrible incident, we were geared up to fight in March and then fight Tyson Fury. Obviously that is not happening now, and I don’t know if it will ever happen right now.

“But I think in the next few weeks and month, he may start to return and just turn the dial up a little bit more on training, and see where he is at.”

Joshua’s crash, in which he and his friends were passengers on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, occurred just 10 days after the Briton fought Jake Paul in Miami.

Joshua stopped the YouTuber-turned-boxer in six rounds, breaking the American’s jaw to bounce back from a 2024 KO by Daniel Dubois.

As Hearn said, there were plans for AJ to build to a long-awaited domestic clash with Fury, but those plans have been drastically affected by December’s incident.

Still, Fury will emerge from his fifth career retirement when he boxes in April, taking on Russia’s Arslanbek Makhmudov somewhere in the UK.

Nothing But Vessel Of Lies, Eddie Hearn Fires Back After Jake Paul Claims He ‘Wobbled’ Anthony Joshua in the Ring

Eddie Hearn: Earlier in the month, American YouTube sensation Paul took on two-time world champion Joshua at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.

Despite putting up a good fight, Paul was floored by AJ for a final time in the sixth round, with the Brit securing a victory via TKO.

Speaking on a recent episode of the Impaulsive Podcast, Paul claimed that he had won two rounds and even had AJ wobbled.

He said: “I won two rounds, then he won two, then I got dropped. But I was doing good. I just think my cardio… just the mental pressure of the big guy and sparring the big people is different than the 10-ounce gloves. So I was feeling his power a lot more.

“It’s a great experience overall to be in there with someone who’s that good. I learned a lot and see where I could have done better. So I’m a little disappointed, but I also know how good he is. But I had him wobbled at one point. I had him wobbled, but he kept his hands up better this fight.”

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Now, Joshua’s promoter Hearn has responded to Paul’s latest comments.

Speaking to Ring Magazine, Hearn said: “Listen, there was probably a round that was quite close because no one did anything, but I don’t know, it’s strange they haven’t released the scorecards.

“I’m sure if they had won rounds, MVP would’ve gone ‘Look!’. I don’t believe he won any rounds on the scorecards but maybe he did I don’t know.”

He continued: “He definitely didn’t wobble AJ but he did land, he landed his biggest shots, there were couple of right hands from the Gods. But, he’s just not big enough, he doesn’t punch hard enough.

“I’m sure he got AJ’s attention but he certainly wasn’t wobbled but he did really well. You’ve gotta understand he was so far out of his depth, look how far he got, I didn’t expect him to go six rounds. His job was to survive. I actually shook his dad’s hand in the ring and said well done.”

Hearn backs Anthony Joshua’s huge financial demands for a potential fight with Jake Paul, saying: “You can’t live off legacy.”

Eddie Hearn has moved firmly into defence mode as debate intensifies around the possibility of Anthony Joshua facing Jake Paul in a lucrative showdown

The reaction from boxing purists has been fierce, with many claiming the former unified heavyweight champion should not entertain a fight against a celebrity-crossover opponent.

But Hearn insists the landscape of modern boxing – and the economics behind it – tell a different story entirely.

“Forget the legacy chat because you can’t eat legacy. I hate the chat as well, ‘He’s [Joshua] got a load of money,'” said Eddie Hearn when addressing criticism aimed at Anthony Joshua for appearing open to the fight purely for financial reward.

The promoter is adamant that discussions are ongoing, but nothing is set in stone yet. “We don’t know if we’ll fight Jake Paul yet, but next year, we will fight in February,” said Eddie Hearn when outlining the current plan for Anthony Joshua.

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“Should Jake Paul be fighting Anthony Joshua? No. Is there tens, tens, tens, and tens of millions of dollars for Anthony Joshua to have an eight-round runout against Jake Paul? Yes.”

The money attached to the event is what fascinates insiders. Cross-over contests have become a fixture of the sport in recent years, creating new financial benchmarks – and Jake Paul remains the most bankable of the crossover stars.

For Anthony Joshua, according to Hearn, the payday would surpass almost anything available in the traditional heavyweight picture.

The financial upside is too significant to ignore

If the fight does materialise, it would mark one of the most commercially dramatic pairings in recent history: a former unified world heavyweight champion against a YouTuber-turned-boxer. Yet for Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua, the justification is straightforward.

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At 36 years old, Joshua is approaching the final stages of his prime earning years. From their perspective, it makes little sense to turn down a generational payday – especially during a period of uncertainty in the heavyweight division.

When asked whether the money Joshua stands to make fighting Paul could exceed the purse available for a long-discussed showdown with Tyson Fury, Hearn said: “We’re considering it, and at the moment, there’s work to be done.

“But could it happen? Yes, it could. The same kind of levels [with Fury].”

The mention of Fury is revealing. A Joshua-Fury fight has long been touted as the biggest possible event in British boxing, yet it has repeatedly failed to materialise due to negotiations, timing and broadcast complications.

The wait has grown frustrating, and Hearn‘s comments make clear that other options – particularly financial ones – remain firmly on the table.

From the perspective of traditionalists, the optics are troubling. A clash with Paul offers little sporting legitimacy. But Hearn argues that the modern fight game is shaped by entertainment value as much as competitive merit.

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And in that environment, Jake Paul brings something very few fighters do: guaranteed global attention and extraordinary streaming power.

A fight that challenges boxing’s identity

Critics claim a bout like this devalues Joshua‘s achievements, which include Olympic gold and multiple world titles.

They argue that fighting Jake Paul places spectacle above sport. However, Eddie Hearn believes fans underestimate the commercial forces at play. The promoter’s message is blunt: legacy does not pay the bills – and fighters must look after their futures.

The logic is difficult to dispute. Joshua remains one of the sport’s few true box-office attractions, and pairing him with Paul – whether fans like it or not – creates a financial package unmatched by most traditional title fights.

Whether the fight actually materialises is still uncertain. But the promoter’s stance is unmistakable. In his eyes, the value of legacy will never outweigh the value of opportunity – and when a payday of this magnitude emerges, fighters like Anthony Joshua must seriously consider it.

In modern boxing, perception may be split, but money remains king. And as Eddie Hearn made clear: “You can’t eat legacy.”

Eddie Hearn Snubs Terence Crawford, Reveals Who He Believes Is the True Pound-for-Pound King Today

Boxing promoter, Eddie Hearn, has been at the heart of the sport for over a quarter of a century, having been introduced to the business by his father, Barry

During this time, Hearn has represented some big-name boxers and has made Matchroom Boxing receive global recognition. He is sometimes scrutinised in the boxing world, though, for his straight talking and love for winding up opposing fighters, but there is no denying the success that he has had throughout his career.

Unfortunately for him, however, his big-profile fighters have been losing recently. Anthony Joshua was subject to successive defeats against the now undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, before going on to lose to Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium just over 12 months ago.

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Conor Benn was found to have been doping, which delayed his anticipated fight with Chris Eubank Jr. When the fight did eventually take place, it did not disappoint. However, Benn was on the wrong end of a unanimous decision in Tottenham. With a rematch in November, Hearn will be hopeful his fighter can get the win this time around, with their family rivalry dating back to 1990 when the pair’s fathers fought for the first time.

Following Terence Crawford’s exceptional victory against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, which saw the American jump up three weight classes, many have labelled him as the best pound-for-pound fighter. Hearn, however, had a different view when speaking to iFL TV, opting for Oleksandr Usyk as his number one in the world.

Who has Crawford beat from the pound-for-pound list? The answer is Canelo, and maybe Errol Spence at the time, who was somewhere near the back end of the top 10 at the time, but when he fought Shawn Porter, when he fought Kell Brook, when he fought Amir Khan, when he fought Gamboa, it’s important that you get what I’m saying.

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“I think he’s the most skilled fighter on the planet. It’s not his fault, he could have beaten those real elite guys in his prime, but he never got to fight them.

“And then I look at Usyk and I go Tyson Fury, who I believe was in his prime, right at the top of his game, AJ, two or three years ago, Dubois, who is a young man and in particular the second victory against Dubois when he was firing on all cylinders, but even when I go back to cruiserweight, he was beating those guys in their backyard. He pips it, but it’s very close.“

It’s tough to disagree with Hearn’s comments. Since making the step up from cruiserweight, people didn’t believe Usyk was big enough or carried the punch power to be a real threat at heavyweight. He’s since become the unified champion and only the first to achieve the feat in two different weight classes.

For most, there is nothing more that the Ukrainian needs to prove, but the 38-year-old is still eager to return to the ring to defend his titles, with Joseph Parker being the latest mandatory challenger. It’s clear that his passion for competing remains after winning the hearts of the entire UK