ANTHONY JOSHUA’s long-awaited undisputed heavyweight title fight with Tyson Fury could end up being bought by an Asian billionaire, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn.
Joshua and Fury, 31 and 32 respectively, put pen to paper on a two-fight deal worth a whopping £500million earlier this week.
A venue and date for the biggest fight in the history of British boxing, however, have yet to be finalised.
Several Middle Eastern countries have expressed an interest in hosting the blockbuster bout, but a mystery bid from Asia has recently caught Hearn’s attention.
The Matchroom Boxing chief said: “I had an approach [on Wednesday], not from the Middle East, but it was the most bizarre approach.
“I can’t say who it was but it was from a very wealthy individual and he wants to do something very special.
“We’ve had 20 approaches for this fight but you know which ones are serious.
“This one was just well out there. And it’s a realistic option, money is not an issue with this guy.
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“Commercially it’s a bit strange, but it’s not about that. It’s a trophy asset to say, ‘This is the biggest event in the world.’
“And that’s the mindset of an individual who wants to bring it to his own country.
“It’s not about selling tickets, it’s not about government investment… it would him be saying, ‘I’d be paying for it.’
“There’s a number for the fight, you hit the number, you get the fight and the number was not an issue for this individual.
“Saudi have paid the site fee before, we’ve worked together before, it’s not complicated, it’s just about tying up the dates, but this offer is a bit different.
“All I will say is it’s in Asia. Not Macau but not far away.”
Joshua and Fury‘s reps have been working for months to try and stage the Battle of Britain in June or July.
But it’s been suggested the fight could be delayed until later this year in order to land a bigger site fee.
Hearn, however, has dismissed that notion and is adamant the plan is still for AJ to throw down twice with The Gypsy King this year.
During an appearance on talkSPORT, he said: “That’s 100 per cent the focus.
“We know it’s a difficult world at the moment, we know there’s travel restrictions, we know global economies are crumbling, but ultimately that’s the date of the fight.
“People are talking about, ‘Some people might prefer this fight to take place in September/October/November.’
“Well, ‘some people’ aren’t us. We want Fury against AJ, two fights this year.
“This is what we’ve signed up to, this is what we’re talking to all the relevant sites and approaches that we’ve had is a two-fight agreement, one in June/July, one in November/December.”
