Eddie Hearn: There are breaches of Anthony Joshua's contract for the Tyson Fury fight

Eddie Hearn has accused TKO of leaking emails to push a specific narrative regarding Matchroom's demands for the Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury fight to be held in the USA. Negotiations for the highly anticipated clash between Joshua and Fury appear to have reached an impasse after it became clear that the event's main financier, Turki Alalshikh, wants to move the bout to the States.

However, Joshua's contract stipulates that the fight must take place in the United Kingdom.

Sports journalist Lance Pugmire reported on Thursday details of a contract addendum sent by Matchroom – Joshua's promotional company – to the Saudi event management company Sela. It outlined their requirements for agreeing to hold the fight at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The report described standard contractual clauses related to ticket requirements, security, and transportation guarantees. It also insisted that Joshua receive the remainder of his fee from his second-round knockout victory over Christian Prenga on July 25 in Saudi Arabia.

The report also included a list of undercard fights proposed by Matchroom.

Also mentioned were demands that were not part of the addendum. These included immediate payment of all outstanding amounts to Matchroom for future darts and snooker events, international promotional fees plus deposits for the World Series of Darts and 167 Riyadh Season events, confirmation of the renewal of Ronnie O'Sullivan's snooker academy license for a third year, and immediate payment of all other outstanding funds to Matchroom for previous boxing events. Hearn insists these matters have nothing to do with the Joshua-Fury negotiations.

Despite everything, Hearn remains adamant that they still hope to stage the fight at Wembley Stadium in London.

"The reality is, nobody acknowledges that we've signed the contract," Hearn said. "People are saying, 'Oh, the fight might fall through.' It can't fall through. It can't, unless Sela and Saudi Arabia want to breach the contract and not put on a fight they've signed for, which also won't happen. 'Anthony Joshua wants to pull out of the fight.' We can't pull out. We've signed a contract. So we're in. All we need is Turki Alalshikh or Netflix to call us and say, 'Wembley or wherever in the UK, this is the date. We'll do the press conference this week. It's done.'"

Reports also indicate that Hearn wants Joshua to be paid more if the fight takes place in the USA, to offset additional taxes he would incur.

"What they want is to pay Anthony Joshua less money, because that's what the location difference will result in," Hearn explained. "They want him to do a bunch of extra things. I'm not going to blow things up, which I could easily do, but there are already breaches of Joshua's contract that we've overlooked because these people are our partners and friends, or at least they were. But right now, a game is being played where some of you are being fed emails and information to try and present things in a way that simply isn't true. And I'll stop there now."

"And I'm just shocked by the way things are unfolding, because we don't breach contracts. We never have. When we sign something, when we agree to something, when we shake hands, it's done. So, yes, it's frustrating. Now, we get much less money if we accept the fight in America compared to the UK. Is that fair, after we've signed a contract?"

Reports of missed payments from Saudi Arabia to Matchroom and Hearn's subsequent comments suggest a potential rift brewing between the two parties.

"Well, the only reason this came out is because it was leaked by their partners [TKO]. I didn't go to them," Hearn said. "I think someone from a certain team called me and said, 'Oh, did you leak that email?' I replied, 'Are you crazy? Leak an email about Ronnie O'Sullivan's snooker academy to make myself look bad?' What they tried to do was take an email that wasn't even in the context of an addendum and pretend that these were all the things we had asked for in the addendum. Fortunately, I had the addendum, and none of that was there. I don't want to talk about missed payments, about what we were promised and what we have. I don't want to air dirty laundry. But this was done by them, which was even crazier. Not by Sela, but by their partners. So, madness. Desperation."

The proposed November 20th date at Madison Square Garden in New York is fast approaching, and Hearn admitted that time for that date is running out.

"We sent them our views on the changes we would like if the fight takes place in America," he said. "We said we don't want you to make these changes, but a few days have passed. We haven't received a response. We were told we would get comments on this. But don't forget, Netflix spends a lot of money. They want a big build-up. They want all these press conferences and things like that. And we need to get into training camp. So right now, this week is probably the deadline for the proposed date."

When pressed for a deadline for the fight in New York, Hearn responded: "I can't tell you that because it's not my show, but yes, I think our time is running out."

Although all parties, with the exception of Matchroom, seem eager to stage the bout in New York, Hearn remains hopeful that everyone will see reason and hold the fight in the UK.

"All these things over the last few weeks, albeit not intentionally, have only increased the demand and scale of this fight," he said. "If Turki Alalshikh and Netflix come back now and say the fight will be at Wembley on November 21st, imagine, the country will go wild. Netflix should look at this and say, 'Yes, you know, this story is pretty incredible. Imagine what the UK would do if it got this fight now.'"

"One hundred thousand people in a national stadium. Look, if it's in New York, we'll all go. I'm sure it will be great, we'll look around, but let's be honest, everyone in this room, standing at Wembley Stadium with 100,000 Brits, watching Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua walk out. I mean, I could retire on the spot. You know what I mean? And I know I'll go to New York and, look, we'll do our job and all that. It just won't be the same. And that's why we're fighting so hard."

Hearn also admitted that he would not back down on Dana White or TKO's involvement as promoters of the event. However, he conceded that he might not be able to stop White from being on stage if Fury signs with Zuffa Boxing or in a consulting role with the UFC boss.

"That's not going to change. The promoter of the fight is Turki Alalshikh," Hearn said. "Tyson Fury said something interesting. Look, Fury always plays games: 'Dana, come to my team. Be my manager. Be my advisor.' So, yes, if Tyson Fury signs with Dana White, I probably can't do much to prevent him from being on Tyson Fury's team. But what he cannot be is what he said he is – the promoter of the event. Now suddenly he's backtracking, saying he's spoken to the venue, checked their availability, and made the deal. So now he's a venue organizer. But what he is not, is the promoter of the event."

"I think the person who really messed up this event is Dana, because of his attitude."