Eddie Hearn has won the battle but will lose the war, says Roy Jones Jnr

Roy Jones Jnr applauds Eddie Hearn standing his ground in his battle for the UK to stage Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury but believes it’s a stance that could hurt the promoter in the long term.

Hearn, while representing the wishes of Joshua, refused to back down when every other party – Turki Alalshikh and Sela, Netflix, Dana White and TKO, and even Team Fury – were pushing for the fight to take place in America to boost broadcast audiences and revenue.

November 20 had been agreed as the date, Madison Square Garden in New York was the venue, but Hearn resisted, on Joshua’s instruction, because the former champion’s initial contract stipulated the bout had to occur in the UK.

What followed was a long and winding tug-of-war. It is now expected that the all-British showdown will be confirmed for December – likely the 11^th – at Cardiff, Wales’ Principality Stadium.

There had to be concessions, most pertinently when the opening bell sounds, which is expected to be 2am local time to ensure it begins during peak viewing hours in the US. Regardless, Hearn’s battle will largely be seen as a successful one.

Jones – who fails to see why the US is even involved in proceedings – is pleased to see the bout, should it at last be confirmed, take place in the UK.

“Nobody in America really cares, but I’m glad the fight is made for the British people,” Jones Jnr told Parimatch Slots Site.

“That’s a fight they have been deserving of for quite some time, and the British people are the best fans in boxing right now. I think Eddie won the power struggle. Why would you take two guys from there, when they’re the best fight fans in the world, and make them fight in the United States when nobody in the United States really cares?

“That’s what’s wrong with boxing today. We’re doing things just about power for the promoter. Forget about the promoter. What about the fans? The fans who deserve it? The fans who’ve been begging for this fight for the longest, why are you gonna take it away from them now?”

The whole process could come at a cost, however.

“Hearn has won a battle, but he’s gonna lose the war,” Jones Jnr continued.

“I just think it’s because Turki has enough money to do whatever he wants to do. Whoever has his ear is gonna win the war, because he’s got the money to keep it going. But my hat goes off to Eddie for fighting, because Eddie knows that war is not the best thing for boxing. That’s why I’m more on Eddie’s side, because I know that what they’re doing, what Zuffa’s doing, is not the best for boxing, and I know that. How? Because look at what they did with the UFC.

“I applaud Eddie for that, because he’s standing up against it. He ain’t letting them come take over how he does things, and he’s fighting for his fighters on that. I agree with him 100 per cent on that, so I do applaud Eddie for that.”