THE VENUE for Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury’s £200million unification superfight must be decided within 30 days or it ‘could go away’.
AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn announced today that the contracts had been penned by both camps for two bumper clashes.
And there are up to EIGHT potential locations battling it out to stage it.
Fury, 32, recently vented his frustration at the contracts not being signed – admitting he has stopped eating and training – while drinking up to 12 pints of beer per day – putting his blockbuster bout with AJ in serious jeopardy.
But now the fight has finally been CONFIRMED with Joshua, 31, and Fury going toe-to-toe twice.
Hearn – Joshua’s promoter – confirmed the good news saying the ‘hard part’ is now over and done with.
But Hearn now says it is just the venue that needs to be decided – and they are not short of offers.
However, ESPN claims both camps are now in a race against time to determine where will stage the clash of the titans.
It has been reported that a Top Rank source confirmed the contracts had been signed.
However, that is dependent on them securing a venue that both fighters agree on.
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The report states the source said: “We have 30 days from the signing, or the deal could go away.”
AJ’s Matchroom chief Hearn said earlier: “We’ve already had approaches from eight or nine sites.
“The offers have come from multiple countries in the Middle East, from Asia, eastern Europe and America.
“This is the biggest fight in boxing and one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
“It will be a major, major win for a country that wants to showcase itself.”
That followed his recent remarks to iFL TV where he appeared to cast doubt on Wembley hosting it.
Hearn said: “When you talk about the venue that is starting to move because we’re in a position time-wise where we’ve had to move.
“So, your next question is ‘where is it going to be?’ Well the answer to your question is it’s still wide open, but we are much further down the line than we were a week ago because we’ve had to speed that process up.
“Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, China, London, Las Vegas.
“Can you really sit there with confidence and say we’re going to be allowed 100,000 people in June in Wembley? You’ve answered the question.
“I don’t like to give people false hopes. I saw Bob’s interview. ‘Yeah, Wembley is an option, Vegas is an option’ – I don’t believe that. I don’t believe it is.
“Do you honestly think Bob Arum gives a monkeys about the UK fans? I mean come on. You’ve seen the comments about his fighters lately.
“Ultimately, they’re going to say to us ‘where can we generate the most money to hold this fight?’ Let’s not beat around the bush. And ultimately it’s going to be up to AJ and Tyson Fury to say ‘yep, we’re happy with that venue’.
“If you asked everybody myself, Frank Warren,Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua where they would like to do this fight, it’s Wembley, of course it is.
“But one, I don’t think that’s possible and two, we can’t ignore the fact this is the biggest fight in boxing, it’s going to generate so much interest, so much money, we can’t just ignore that fact.”
