Frank Warren has slammed Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua for their reluctance to entertain a September fight with Tyson Fury.
It was claimed last week that Fury’s camp had sent an offer to try and finally make the fight between the two British rivals, though Hearn disputed this and said his focus was on securing an August fight for Joshua, likely against Dillian Whyte, and a mega-fight against Deontay Wilder at the end of the year.
That bout in December would take place on the same night as Fury fought Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship if Saudi Arabia had their way, though little progress has been made on that front.
Fury initially seemed set to fight Andy Ruiz in July, then claimed he was in talks to take on Demsey McKean in August before turning his attention to a Joshua fight, with Warren still unable to find an opponent for his man. Fury has not fought since cruising to victory over Derek Chisora in December.
Warren has hit out at Hearn’s suggestion that he had no received an offer, and questioned why Joshua would not fight Fury when he had not yet confirmed either his August or December fight.
“Eddie Hearn is talking a complete pile of b******s,” Warren told iFL TV.
“The fact of the matter is, the offer was made. It was a genuine offer. Tyson was very much aware of it. Tyson to his credit said to me yet again, ‘he won’t take it because he’s terrified of fighting me’.
“Irrespective of that, they didn’t take the fight. Because they want to fight in Saudi and get this pay day.”
He added: “Who’s he going to fight in August? They’re going to go and find somebody, they’re probably scouring the old cemeteries at the moment looking for someone for him to fight.”
Hearn has been in informal discussions with George Warren, Frank’s son, about the possibility of the Fury vs Joshua fight, though suggested that the latest outburst would harm any hopes of an agreement being reached and believes there is panic from Fury’s team over their struggle to find an opponent.
“What Frank Warren does is just completely ruin any chance of the fight getting made,” Hearn said.
“Bob Arum, Warren and even my old man [Barry Hearn]. Ban them from interviews. They’ve just lost the plot and say crazy things. Just go. Go on holiday. It’s not worth the stress for you, it looked so desperate. They are desperate.
“They have no offer from Saudi Arabia and they have no fight.”
