Eddie Hearn says Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua is OFF as it stands

Eddie Hearn has said it is unlikely the Battle of Britain clash between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will go ahead on December 3. 

Hearn has said he is still waiting to hear back from Fury and his team after sending over the final version of the contract on Wednesday last week.

The Matchroom promoter also revealed how he had heard that the Gypsy King had sent Derek Chisora a contract for trilogy fight on December 3. 

 The Gypsy King (R) has sent Derek Chisora (L) a contract for trilogy fight on December 3

Speaking to Matchroom Boxing, Hearn said: ‘People surely aren’t thick enough to [not] see that Tyson Fury has called two deadlines on this fight and the fight has passed in Tyson Fury’s deadlines.

‘People talk about putting up barriers, we sent our final draft contract back to sign. They want to appoint their partner as an arbitrator, that sort of stuff doesn’t work.

‘We get another one [deadline], Tyson Fury says, ‘We’re telling you now, the fight is off unless you sign [today].

Hearn is still waiting to hear back from Fury and his team after sending the over the contract 

Hearn said he and Joshua are still open to discussions over the Battle of Britain clash 

‘That deadline passed, I’ve not heard back from George Warren since. So as far as we’re concerned, the fight’s off. We’re happy to continue the discussions, we haven’t had any of those discussions.’

Hearn went on to say: ‘They gave us terms ultimately in a date they thought we wouldn’t accept. We did accept that. We were ready to go. If they would have signed the contract on Monday, they had a fight. 

‘We were asked to agree the deal by Monday, then we were asked to agree by Wednesday. We got their comments back on Wednesday. We were never gonna sign the fight, and we told them the fight is off.

‘So, it’s still there. It’s still open for discussions. But we’re not gonna play a game with a bloke that’s just coming out telling AJ it’s off and then he’s a dosser and he’s gotta sign it etc. 

‘Have your fight if you wanna fight someone else and we’ll do our thing, and we’ll see what happens.’

Fury has had two comeback victories, against Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta (right)

Meanwhile, Joshua is looking to make a return to the ring after losing to Oleksandr Usyk

Negotiations over the highly-anticipated bout in December have been ongoing for the past month, with both sides blaming the other’s camp for the hold-up.

As it stands, Fury and AJ have agreed on the financial terms of the fight – splitting the purse 60/40 in the favour of the WBC champion.

They have also named the Principality Stadium in Cardiff as the chosen location and agreed over the TV rights – which were said to be stumbling block.

Fury’s promoter Frank Warren said BT Sports, DAZN and ESPN in America are all on board with shared pay-per-view broadcasting. 

However, they are reportedly struggling to agree things such as the commercial terms of the fight. 

Warren said he would be happy to use an ‘independent mediator’ to resolve the issue but insisted he was waiting to hear back from Joshua’s team. 

Frank Warren previously said they would use an ‘independent mediator’ to resolve the issue

Fury has been particularly impatient while waiting for the deal to be signed. He took to social media twice in four days to call the fight off.

However, Warren managed to convince Fury to extend his deadline and keep negotiations open with AJ. 

But, according to Hearn, Fury has now sent a contract to Chisora over a trilogy fight. The Gypsy King beat Chisora twice early in his career, before overcoming Wladimir Klitschko in his first world title fight in 2015.