Tyson Fury (L), the reigning WBC and lineal heavyweight champion, will fight Anthony Joshua, the WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion. /VCG
Tyson Fury, the reigning WBC and lineal heavyweight champion, will fight Anthony Joshua, the WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight champion, twice in 2021, said Eddie Hearn, promoter of Joshua. No contract is signed yet.
"We have agreed to the basics of the deal, a two-fight deal. The hardest part is to agree to the financial element of the deal. We have agreed with Tyson Fury and the team, and we can now move forward with finalizing the smaller parts of the deal," Hearn told ESPN.
"The good news for fight fans is that we have agreed to do the two fights and we can now go and dot the I's and cross the T's. They also have fights in between to make and get through, and that's another issue."
WBC Heavyweight Title fight between Tuson Fury (R) and Deontay Wilder at The Grand Garden Arena at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, February 22, 2020. /VCG
Considering that a unified heavyweight champion may be born after the fights for the first time in 20 years, the revenue from the two fights can be as much as 150 million pounds (about 189.8 million U.S. dollars), making them the fifth-biggest money fights in history. All of the top four bouts involve Floyd Mayweather.
Joshua defeated Andy Ruiz last December in a revenge fight for the shocking loss in June 2019, taking all his three belts back. He had a mandatory bout with Kubrat Pulev on June 20 but had to have it postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fury beat Deontay Wilder in February and will meet "The Bronze Bomber" again later this year after the pandemic delayed their June fight, according to Top Rank's Bob Arum.
Anthony Joshua (L) punches Andy Ruiz Jr. in their bout for the IBO, WBA Super, IBF and WBO World Heavy at Diriyah Arena outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 7, 2019. /VCG
"The biggest fight in British boxing history has just been agreed. ... Two-fight deal, Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua next year. One problem: I've just got to smash Deontay Wilder's face right in in the next fight, and then we go into the Joshua fight next year," said Fury in a video on Twitter.
Unfortunately for British boxing fans, Fury and Joshua may not fight at home but possibly in Saudi Arabia.