Eddie Hearn, promoter for IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, is standing firm that he's had discussions with respect to a year-end unification with WBC champion Tyson Fury.
But Fury's co-promoter, Frank Warren, said Hearn's recent statements were false - and made it clear that no discussions regarding Fury-Joshua had ever taken place.
Warren's claims were backed up by Fury's other co-promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank.
Fury vs. Joshua would only be possible for the end of the year - if both champions come away with wins in their upcoming bouts.
Fury will face Deontay Wilder in a trilogy fight in the month of July, while Joshua is making a mandatory defense against Kubrat Pulev on June 20th.
Hearn explained that not only has he spoken with Arum about the fight - it was Arum who reached out to him.
"Of course I f-cking have [spoken to Bob Arum]. Firstly, I’ve been negotiating the Pulev fight with him. How many times have I spoken to Bob Arum in the last three weeks? Half a dozen, a dozen. How many times have I spoken to Arum since the Fury fight? Four times. Of course I’ve spoken to Bob Arum! Do you think Bob’s not going to call me and talk about it? This geezer is all over it like a rat up the drain pipe. He was the first one to call me," Hearn told IFL TV.
"We’ve been talking loads, loads. I haven’t seen Frank’s interview where he says Bob definitely hasn’t had a conversation with me about the fight? Okay. Listen we haven’t been exchanging contracts, but we’ve had several conversations about Fury-Joshua. We talked about how the fight would work, we talked about how the broadcasters would work.
"It wasn’t drafting contracts, but it was talk between the two guys for the biggest fight in boxing. We said let’s all get round the table. This is how the deal should work. I have no problem sitting round the table with Bob and if it has to be Frank and if it has to be MTK, no problem. With us, it’s very simple to get a fight done with AJ. How many people is Tyson Fury paying percentages to? All these people? It’s madness. More than happy than talking to Bob, Frank – whoever – to get this done. I’ve got full authority from Joshua to make this fight. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t do it now. Everyone wants that fight. It makes the next two fights even more interesting, semi-final to the final."