Eddie Hearn says Tyson Fury offered a fight to Derek Chisora then gave Anthony Joshua a new deadline

Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has sensationally claimed that Tyson Fury offered a fight to Derek Chisora on Wednesday, just 24 hours before the Gypsy King gave AJ another ultimatum for signing the contract for their Battle of Britain fight.

Negotiations over the proposed bout have been ongoing for the past month, with both sides claiming at times confirmation of the clash was being held up by the other’s camp. 

And on Monday, Tyson Fury insisted the fight was off after his fellow Brit missed a deadline of 5pm to sign the contract with Fury becoming frustrated with what he perceived to be a lack of movement from Joshua’s camp.

However, he then u-turned on Thursday with Fury now giving Joshua a new deadline of the end of the day to sign the contract for their heavyweight showdown after being convinced by his promoter Frank Warren to afford his bitter rival more time.  

Joshua’s promoter Hearn also  hit back at the comments made by Fury over the past week

However, Hearn, speaking to Behind The Gloves, questioned Fury and revealed that he had reportedly been offering the fight out.

He said: ‘He’s just offered a fight to Derek Chisora yesterday and then he says today “ok AJ I’ll give you until today”. It ain’t going to get done today.’  

Hearn also hit back at the claims that have been made by Fury over the past week.

‘To be honest we are quite baffled by this situation,’ Hearn told Sky Sports.

‘Firstly, when we agreed terms for the fight it took us over a week to receive a draft contract. We have not have that contract for 14 days. 

‘Over the next week we’ve worked tirelessly and had a number of meetings with Queensbury to get the contract in some kind of decent shape. 

‘Last Monday we sent our final draft of the contract only to see that Tyson Fury had publicly pulled out of the fight and that it was no longer on the table. 

‘Yesterday we then received comments from Queensbury on a final draft of our agreement which is now being reviewed. 

‘I’m not sure why Tyson Fury keeps setting unrealistic deadlines while also offering the fight to a number of other heavyweights for the selected date.’

Hearn continued: ‘If he’s serious about the fight being made I suggest he allows Matchroom and Queensbury to keep working hard to make the fight of which everyone has been trying hard to do. 

‘You can’t publicly keep pulling out of a fight and then restart negotiations when there has been so many positive conversations had. We’ll see what happens from here.’ 

Frank Warren revealed it was Tyson Fury’s idea to only give Anthony Joshua a 40 per cent split

Meanwhile, Warren, speaking earlier on Thursday on talkSPORT, expressed his frustration at the lack of progress in the final contract being signed and claimed that the 60:40 purse split in favour of the Gypsy King was a red line in agreeing to the fight for Fury.

He said: ‘At the end of the day Anthony Joshua picks up the bills, he’s the boss.

‘Instruct your team, like Tyson instructed me. I didn’t want to give him (Joshua) 40% but Tyson instructed me and that’s what it was. He’s the guy and he’s the one getting in the ring. 

‘If Joshua really wants it (the fight) instruct your team or tell us what the problem is because there isn’t any problem. I thought 60:40 was a bit too generous but Tyson wants to make it happen, he’s put the money up there and he’s the boss.

After convincing Fury to give Joshua more time to sign the contract, Warren claimed that he has made the concessions that AJ’s team asked for in the contracts in order to make sure the fight happens.

He added: ‘It really boils down to this. Joshua either wants the fight or he doesn’t. And it’s as simple as that!

‘How long can we wait? I talked Tyson into giving him another 48 hours and we’re now Thursday so we’re through the 48 hours. 

‘Look we can’t go on forever. Tyson is fighting on December 3 whatever and this is the fight we want and the fight that we worked hard to get over the line. I for the life of me do not know what’s holding this up. 

‘I don’t know how we go past today. If they can’t put together the biggest British fight in boxing history because of that it’s beyond me. I mean I thought they were high-powered promoters. ‘ 

Earlier this month, Warren said a contract had been sent to Joshua’s team and both sides suggested there was little standing in the way of a full agreement. 

Joshua immediately said he was interested and instructed his management group 258 and Matchroom to negotiate terms – with his promoter Hearn confirming they had accepted the 60-40 split.

One stumbling block was over the fighters’ respective broadcast deals. Fury’s fights are broadcast on BT Sport and ESPN in America, while Joshua’s fights are shown exclusively on streaming app DAZN. 

Tyson Fury has given Anthony Joshua a new deadline to sign for their heavyweight showdown

However, the broadcasters have since reached an agreement over television rights. 

In a video earlier on Thursday, Fury revealed that his promoter successfully convinced him to extend the deadline for a few more days, while insisting AJ is still running out of time.

‘Anthony Joshua, where do we start,’ Fury said in a video message on Twitter. ‘The deadline was Monday. Frank Warren asked me and convinced me to let it carry on for a few more days.

‘Today is Thursday. And even though I knew you wouldn’t sign this contract, I allowed Frank to continue doing meetings with your team and your broadcasters and all that, and now we have BT, DAZN and ESPN all on the same page. They are happy with everything. they’re all happy, ready to rock ‘n roll.

‘You guys asked for a lot of stuff. You wanted to be co-promoters when you’re a voluntary challenger. Guess what, I said give it to ’em. Let them be co-promoters. 

The Gypsy King claimed on Monday that Joshua had missed the deadline to agree terms 

‘You wanted full transparency even though you’re not an equal shareholder in this party. Do you know what I said? Give him full transparency. I’ve got nothing to hide. I’m not trying to rob anybody. I’ve never robbed anybody of a penny in my life. So now you’ve got full transparency, everything is clean and fair.’

With the clock ticking, Fury has told Joshua that it is now over to him to get their British battle over the line. 

Should it collapse from this point, he believes his domestic foe will show himself to be a ‘big coward’.

Fury added: ‘The ball is really in your court, son. Everybody is done. If you were really a man, and you had any sort of dignity and pride about you, you’ll get this contract signed today. 

He was convinced by promoter Frank Warren to give Joshua more time to do so this week

Fury now says his rival can still seal their long-awaited Battle of Britain clash on Thursday

‘This is it. There are no more days, weeks and months. You’ve had the contract for over two weeks and you still haven’t signed it. Show the public that you really are a big coward – that I know you are – and don’t sign it. I don’t care either way, if you sign it or you don’t it makes no difference to me.

‘You’re a beaten man and I’m a world champion. I’m chucking you a massive bone, but I know I can punch your face in so I’m willing to give you an opportunity. 

‘There’s nothing more to do, everyone is happy, get your team onto mine, they’ll be available all day like they have been the past two weeks. Get this contract signed today you big p**** and give the British fans what they want. 

‘There’s no more running, you have to fight me. You cannot escape. The Fury is coming… B****’.