Fury vs Joshua: Contract Signed, Venue in Dispute, Netflix on Board
Anthony Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn says the contract for a Tyson Fury fight is signed and nobody can pull out — but where the bout actually takes place remains unresolved.
Hearn told DAZN that Joshua's side has signed for the fight to be staged in the United Kingdom, with November the expected target for what would be one of the biggest fights in British boxing history (BBC Sport, 22 August 2026). The catch: Saudi organisers Sela, who hold separate contracts with both Fury and Joshua, are pushing to move the event to the United States. New York's Madison Square Garden is understood to be Sela's preferred venue. The fight will be broadcast on Netflix regardless of location.
Hearn has been blunt about the leverage a signed contract provides. "No one can pull out," he told DAZN, "because you cannot pull out of a contract" (BBC Sport, 22 August 2026). He has also drawn a line on the venue question: Joshua's camp has told Sela that if the fight goes to America, it will only happen on revised terms they can accept — and they would rather not move at all.
That position has been firm for weeks. In late June, Hearn said the fight would only go to the United States if Joshua agreed to new terms (BBC Sport, 24 June 2026). By 20 August, he was listing specific demands for a New York staging (BoxingScene, 20 August 2026), and a day earlier had admitted he did not believe any real announcement was imminent because no changes to the contract had been agreed (Bad Left Hook, 19 August 2026).
Fury, for his part, has cast doubt publicly. In a verbal tirade aimed at Joshua and Hearn on 21 August, Fury claimed the fight "does not look like it will happen" (BBC Sport, 21 August 2026). Hearn's response, via the signed contract, is effectively: it already has.
The promotional landscape has its own sideshow. Hearn has threatened legal action against UFC president Dana White and rejected White's claim that he is the promoter of the Fury-Joshua event (Yahoo Sports, 20 August 2026). That adds another layer of friction to a negotiation already stretched between London and Riyadh, with New York hovering as the third option.
For fans, the tension is familiar. British boxing has been teased with Fury versus Joshua for years, and each round of headlines brings a mix of genuine progress and fresh obstacles. Hearn himself noted back in June that the only thing that could stop the bout was Joshua losing to Kristian Prenga — the opponent lined up for Joshua's ring return, which Hearn described as the "ultimate comeback" (BBC Sport, 24 June 2026; BBC Sport, 3 May 2026). Long-time promoter Frank Warren, who represents Fury, once said the only thing standing between the two fighters and the ring was egos (BBC Sport).
The contract is signed. The broadcaster is set. The venue is not. Until Sela and Joshua's camp resolve that gap, the fight everyone wants to see exists on paper but not on a calendar.
