Tyson Fury Thanks Dana White After Eddie Hearn Bars Him From Fight
Tyson Fury has publicly thanked Dana White after Eddie Hearn said the UFC boss will have nothing to do with a Fury-Anthony Joshua fight. The former world heavyweight champion used Instagram to pick a side in the promoter war and to take a shot at Joshua’s team in the same breath.
Fury’s message landed after Hearn restated that White, TKO, and Zuffa Boxing are locked out of the bout. Hearn said that freeze is in the original contract, not a last-minute tantrum.
Fury was not interested in that line. He thanked White anyway.
“Even if Eddie’s a little jealous f*cker”
That is Fury’s explanation for why Hearn wants White kept off the show. It is an insult, not proof of Hearn’s motive, and it puts the heavyweight on White’s shoulder heading into another week of stalled talks.
Hearn has been consistent. In Dublin this week he was asked whether a revised deal would let White in, and he said no, or there would be no fight.
He also said the block is Joshua’s position, not only his. Hearn noted that Joshua is a Matchroom shareholder and a close friend, and that Joshua asked why White’s group would be involved at all.
Hearn’s list of approved names is Turki Alalshikh, Queensberry, Gold Star, Matchroom, and Top Rank if the fight goes to America. White is not on it.
Fury has already said the opposite. Last month he invited White onto his side as an advisor, a trainer, a manager, or whatever role would help get Joshua in the ring.
He has also said he does not care which promoter’s logo is on the poster. In his telling, more people at the table is better than another year of the fight not happening.
White has claimed involvement for months, including a stretch in which he said he knew the venue and that Hearn had not negotiated the contract. Hearn called those claims clueless and later said he should be suing White for acting as if he could stage Joshua’s fight.
The personal feud sits on top of a business one. White launched Zuffa Boxing this year, signed names out of Hearn’s orbit, and has been trying to attach himself to the biggest remaining British heavyweight fight.
Hearn has treated that as a raid. Fury has treated it as help.
The venue fight is still the other half of the mess. Hearn says Joshua signed for the United Kingdom. White, Alalshikh, and Netflix have been linked to Madison Square Garden in November.
Fury says he will fight anywhere. Hearn says changing countries means changing money, taxes, and terms, and that British fans should not lose a home fight so other parties can chase a U.S. audience.
None of that has produced a date, a site, or a promoter credit everyone will sign. What it has produced is Fury on Instagram, thanking the one man Hearn is trying to keep out.
Joshua is 30-4 after stopping Kristian Prenga in Jeddah on July 25. Fury, 38, stopped Mariusz Wach in Thailand in July and has talked about a November window, including Nov. 20.
Hearn has said a press conference was supposed to follow a 48-hour deadline. That clock has not delivered an announcement.
Fury’s thank-you to White does not rewrite the contract Hearn is holding. It does tell the other side that if White is the problem, Fury is not going to dump him to save the negotiation.
White still runs the UFC and Zuffa Boxing. Hearn still runs Joshua’s career, and he has said the fight dies before White gets a promotional piece of it.
Fury is the man in the middle with a microphone. He just used it to thank White and to call Hearn jealous, which means the next round of talks starts with the same names in the same trench.
November is still the slot everyone keeps naming. Until Hearn allows White in, or Fury stops backing him, the Joshua fight remains a British heavyweight classic that cannot agree on who is allowed to sell it.