Eddie Hearn has confirmed Anthony Joshua is willing to accept a 60-40 split to fight Tyson Fury later this year.
Earlier this week, Fury took to social media to publicly offer Joshua a shot at the WBC title, after it was suggested that Oleksandr Usyk does not intend to return to the ring until next year.
The Ukrainian beat Joshua for a second time last month in Saudi Arabia to defend his belts and in doing so appeared to set up an undisputed fight with Fury, who quickly backtracked on his claims that he had retired.
However, with that bout pushed back, Fury has turned his focus to an all-British clash with Joshua, offering a 60-40 split for a fight to take place in the UK.
That offer included a rematch clause should Joshua win, with the split in that fight at 50-50 which promoter Hearn confirmed they would seek to negotiate.
Despite that, it was largely positive news as he revealed Joshua had agreed to accept the initial bout on Fury’s proposed terms.
“We went back this morning. I spoke to AJ about the offer, we think, I think he deserves more than 40, but he’s happy,” Hearn told iFL TV.
“I went back this morning and said we accept 60-40. We want that reversed in the rematch because rightfully so, you’re the champion here you want the big split which I think is fair and we want to do the fight in December.
“Interestingly, Queensberry have that date, December 17. I think that was the date he was meant to fight Dereck Chisora.
“In essence, we accept the offer, we confirmed that this morning, lots of conversations were had.”
Hearn admitted he was sceptical of Fury’s true intentions.
He said: “I don’t want to get people too excited because I have my doubts. But what I can tell you is AJ is ready to fight in December.”
60-40. pic.twitter.com/55eFxoJ5WH
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) September 6, 2022
While Hearn suggested the plan was to fight on December 17, the night before the World Cup final, Fury later revealed there were three possible options, all of which were either in November or early December.
Joshua and his team are keen to fight as late in the year as possible, coming off the back of that Usyk defeat just last month, even if Fury is pushing for the fight to happen earlier.
“I have seen that they are trying to wriggle a little bit with the date because we officially have Manchester United’s football ground booked for the 12th of November, however they are saying that is too short,” Fury told talkSPORT.
“So, what I have got that’s even better than that is Wembley Stadium booked for the 26th of November of this year. And if he doesn’t want to go to Wembley at the end of November, I even have a December date for him – the 3rd of December at Cardiff.
“So, take your little pick, dosser. There’s no wriggling!”
He added: “One of them is 11 weeks, one is 12, so if a professional athlete who is shredded all year round can’t get himself in shape in three months, there is a problem.”
