EDDIE HEARN has insisted he DID have the green light to announce that Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury signed to fight each other.
AJ’s promoter told ESPN that the heavyweight champions have put pen to paper on a two-fight deal.
Fury’s UK backer Frank Warren hit out at Hearn and revealed their side were ‘not happy’ it was made public.
Hearn, whose dad Barry once worked with Warren, explained the fight is not yet official, with a date and venue left to be agreed.
But he simply responded to question on whether the fight had been signed, and said he had permission from Fury’s side to share the news.
Hearn told iFL TV: “Yesterday’s interview, not announcement, interview with ESPN was, we didn’t want to make a big formal announcement and a fuss. But I wanted to let everyone know.
“I spoke to Fury’s team and they were happy to convey to everybody that everybody had signed because it’s good news.
“It’s called momentum, it’s excitement. There are still hurdles to overcome.
“We’ve still got to go out and decide where this is going to take place but we are moving in the right direction in terms of dates. It’s momentum, it’s good news.
“You guys have been waiting for good news and we’ve kept saying ‘two weeks, two weeks’ but when you get a fight as big as this, with the two fighters and all the teams putting pen to paper, let’s celebrate it and let’s move forward and get this done. That’s what we intend to do.”
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Now Joshua, 31, and Fury, 32, have signed their agreement, promoters have 30 days to agree a site and date.
Either heavyweight champion can then opt out of the deal, should they not be happy with the terms.
But Hearn has reiterated that despite a deal being signed, no official announcement will come until there is a host and a date.
And it is understood once all the loose ends are tied up, Joshua, Fury, their management groups and promoters will announce the fight together.
Hearn continued: “I think Frank said ‘it was agreed we would do announcements’ there wasn’t an announcement, I confirmed with Fury’s team and they were happy for that to be mentioned.
“So that’s what happened. It wasn’t a case of meeting tweeting ‘IT’S ON!’, it was just ‘I’ve heard you’ve all signed now, is that correct?’ and ‘yes we have signed we’re now moving forward to confirm the date and the venue’.
“And I think we should celebrate it, myself, Anthony, 258 Management have worked really hard to get this done.
“So we have still got work to do but how good is it that everybody has put pen to paper?
“Nobody can be accused of not trying to get this done from our side or their side. Now we’ve got to go and finish the job.”
