Eddie Hearn says Matchroom are still waiting on the contract for Anthony Joshua’s Saudi Arabian clash with Deontay Wilder despite agreeing ‘terms and money’ for the blockbuster bout.
Hearn claims a change in personnel involved in boxing in Saudi Arabian may have stalled their progress. He says Matchroom are prepared to wait a ‘couple more weeks’ for the final contract but admits they are looking at alternative venues.
Hearn named Abu Dhabi, Las Vegas and Wembley as potential locations for the heavyweight showdown before explaining how Joshua could face Andy Ruiz or Filip Hrgovic in December while they finalise details for the Wilder fight.
Speaking to Mail Sport, Hearn said: ‘We’ve agreed terms for that fight, we have agreed the money. We have agreed everything. What we haven’t got is the contract.
‘There is a change in terms of boxing politics in Saudi Arabia. The people that we have worked with for a number of years, who told us the fight is done, have left so that might not be the case now. But, I guess the strategy will be assed by them.
Eddie Hearn (pictured above) says Matchroom are still waiting on the contract for Anthony Joshua ‘s Saudi Arabian clash with Deontay Wilder
Joshua knocked Robert Helenius out in their bout at the O2 Arena on August 12, 2023
Joshua and Wilder have agreed the terms and the money for the Saudi Arabian clash
‘As I understand it, they still want to do AJ vs Wilder. They also want to do AJ vs Usyk. Do they want to do AJ vs Fury? I have no idea. But, we are in for that fight but at the same time, we aren’t going to wait forever.
‘We will see what happens over the next couple of weeks. There is a good chance that AJ will fight in December if he doesn’t fight Wilder in January.
‘We are now looking at alternative venues for that fight as well just in case as previously we were told the fight was done. It’s a massive fight whether that’s in Saudi, whether that’s in Abu Dhabi or whether that’s in Vegas or Wembley.’
Hearn finished by saying: ‘It’s a massive fight. I do expect it to happen. AJ wants to keep active and there is a chance he will fight in December.
When asked whether Ruiz and Hrgovic were in the running, Hearn said: ‘They are definitely two names that are in the mix. Hrgovic is the mandatory for the IBF and Andy Ruiz is pretty much mandatory for the WBC. AJ wants a shot at the world heavyweight title so that’s the only thing that’s driving him.
‘He wants to get in that position. Obviously he’s fought Usyk twice and he wants to fight Fury but Fury didn’t sound too keen again yesterday but who knows.’
Hearn claims a change in personnel involved in boxing in Saudi Arabian has stalled progress. He says Matchroom are prepared to wait a ‘couple more weeks’ for the final contract