Dana White lets rip at Eddie Hearn as Fury's manager claims Joshua showdown is '100 per cent on'

Dana White has accused Eddie Hearn of ‘hurting’ the Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury showdown.

The seemingly never-ending saga over where the contest will take place, and who will promote it, has this week taken another turn. 

The organizers of the event, Turki Alalshikh and Sela, have been pushing for the contest – that pits both of British boxing’s biggest stars of the last decade against each other – to take place inside New York’s Madison Square Garden. 

All parties were happy with that aside from Joshua and his promoter because it was written into Joshua’s original contract that the bout must happen in the UK. They have stood firm on that.

On September 10 it was reported that the UK is very much back in play, with the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, a key player.

White, who has claimed he will promote Joshua-Fury, is believed to have been instrumental in securing both Madison Square Garden as hosts and Netflix as the broadcaster. 

“I mean, I don't know what else to say about this whole thing,” White told IFL TV. 

“I've never seen a guy [Hearn] who's supposed to be the promoter of an event hurt a fight more than this guy has. It's pretty fascinating, actually. So, it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. There is no fight. [If there is a fight, the promoter] it'll be me.”

“This guy continues to hurt this fight, which is the weirdest thing that I've ever seen. Normally what you do is if you're the promoter and you're the guy who's guiding your fighter, you go where the money is and you try to make your guy as much money as you can. That has definitely not been the case with this fight.

“Listen, whether this fight happens or not, my life goes on, and I'm going to do just fine.”

So, is White close to walking away from the whole thing?

“Yes,” he said. “We're literally fucking right there. I mean, it just gets to the point where it's fucking silly now. Frank Warren, I saw an interview with him, and he's like, ‘It's fucking ridiculous, let's fight.’ Let's fucking fight.

“If it happens in the UK, there's a lot less money involved in the fight,” White continued. “So my job is this. My job is to come in and figure out how to make both guys money, and how to make all the other people involved money. 

“Now, the people that are involved in all this crazy shit that's going on right now, they all understand what they're going to get and how it's going to play out, and the whole Eddie Hearn thing… I mean, if Eddie doesn't like the way this is going down, then fucking rip up the contract and do the fight yourself.”

Despite White claiming Hearn’s demands are “hurting” negotiations, Fury’s manager Spencer Brown has confirmed to Sky Sports that the fight is “100 per cent on”.

"It's inching closer and it looks like it could be the British Boxing Bonanza that we all hoped for taking place in Britain," Brown said. 

"Three venues are still under consideration with Cardiff and Wembley still in the running. It's looking good, Tyson has been onboard with fighting AJ since the start and he will fight him anywhere.

"November and December are both in play but we like December as an option, everyone would be winding up work for the holidays, it would be the best Christmas party in the world. I'm 100 per cent that the fight will happen.

"Everyone is still in negotiations, Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren are both onboard but I'm fully confident we can get it done, of course the final say will be with Turki Alalshikh, Netflix and Sela, but we are on track to getting it done."

Hearn also last week told reporters that TKO – and by association, White – had attempted to offer Joshua money to sign for a fight in the US behind his back. Hearn also claims that he will issue a legal letter to TKO over this.

“Sounds like a hell of a lawsuit,” said White on the situation. “Eddie Hearn is so full of shit on so many different levels that it's just like, and the great thing that I've learned about these boxing guys is, wind them up and just let them fucking talk. They can't help themselves. Just let them talk. Every one of them, in the entire sport, except for Frank Warren.”