The proposed heavyweight contest between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua has been cast into fresh uncertainty following recent comments from Fury and promoter Dana White.
It was confirmed on Friday that an agreement had finally been reached for the era's two biggest British fighters to meet in Cardiff on 11 December.
However, almost immediately after setting the date, the long-anticipated bout encountered obstacles when Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, questioned the involvement of the American promoter. The UFC and Zuffa Boxing chief had been officially named to co-promote the event alongside The Ring, an organisation owned by Saudi Arabian powerbroker Turki Alalshikh.
Speaking on his YouTube channel on Saturday, Fury alleged that Hearn and Joshua were seeking to withdraw, estimating the likelihood of the fight taking place at merely one per cent.
He said: "If you’ve got a guy that wants to fight, and you’ve got a guy that doesn’t want to fight, then how are you going to make that fight happen?"
White remained defiant when interviewed by Sky Sports following Johnny Fisher’s triumph at the Copper Box on Saturday.
"I’m involved in the fight," he said. If Eddie Hearn really cared about this fight, first of all it would have happened a long time ago, number one. Number two, he could finance the thing himself.
"The guy who’s supposed to be helping the fight has been hurting the fight the entire time. We’ll all know more in the next three or four days."
White’s comments come after Hearn claimed earlier this week that Joshua’s camp did not agree to Fury being the A-side for the fight.
Fury’s name was listed first on the poster when the fight was announced by Netflix on Thursday.
Speaking to iFL TV the same day, Joshua’s promoter Hearn said: “We’ve got a lot of stuff to still sort out around the fight. The preferences of who gets what.
“Obviously they’ve announced it’s Fury vs AJ. No problem, we couldn’t care less. No, no, that was never agreed.
“We’re supposed to do a press conference next week; I’m not sure whether that will happen or not to be honest with you, because there are a few things we’re still ironing out.”
Fury and Joshua are both scheduled to attend a press conference in London on Wednesday.
