Eddie Hearn, promoter for IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, says his fighter’s division rival, WBC champion Tyson Fury, loves to make unexpected phone calls to wind people up.
“Sometimes I’ve woken up and it’s like 12:30 and I’ve just seen missed call, Fury FaceTime. I’ve called him back a couple of times and he hasn’t picked it up. He’s just a wind-up merchant, I think it’s great. Where else are you going to get a sport like that? Two blokes that are about to punch each other’s head in and he’s FaceTiming me,” Hearn told The Express.
“The mind games are going to be a big part of this fight. That’s another dynamic. Part of the promotion, part of the build-up and part of what’s going to make this fight so big. I think they’ve argued over text, they’ve argued over FaceTime. It’s bizarre.”
At the moment, Hearn and his lawyers are involved in deep negotiations with Fury’s promoters to finalize a full division unification for 2021.
There is a target, by both sides, to stage the first fight in June.
If the two sides are unable to get everything together in time for a June date, then they will look to July.
“It doesn’t have to be in June, it can be in July. The fact is, we’ve got to do two this year,” Hearn said.
“July is the absolute latest but ultimately, I keep saying that we’re not going to finalise the site until the deal is signed but there are talks going on [regarding location] and it’s going to move quite quickly.
“The plan is that any press tour for this is going to be at the end of March or early April, so in that respect we’ve got six weeks to deliver a signed agreement and a site deal which is fine. So at the moment, no panic. Again it’s not ‘it happens in June or it doesn’t happen’ but for me, the ideal date would be June then November or December for the second fight.”