Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn is skeptical about his rival promoters staging a potential Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder fight in December and has gone on record about what he thinks the fight does numbers-wise.
Hearn heads to the US in October to kick off the new DAZN streaming platform in terms of live US events but the first fight shown to US fans on the platform will take place next month in the UK between Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin.
It was meant to be Joshua vs Wilder this year but due to failed negotiations it wasn’t meant to be perhaps.
Moreover, it has now been widely reported that Wilder could face Tyson Fury instead either this November or December.
More than likely in the US and most likely on Showtime.
Speaking to Fight Hype, Hearn is skeptical about the whole situation and said:
“If Shelly (Finkel) and Al (Haymon) are giving Fury 15, 20 million, he probably will take the fight.”
He added:
“It also has to do 600,000 or 700,000 buys (for that purse to make sense). It does, I don’t know, 100,000 or 200,000. Maybe 200,000 buys. That generates what, 6 million dollars? Plus the gate generates about four or five million dollars. Don’t forget that the UK pay per view is strong, on BT – that will probably bring in (another) five million to Fury.”
That seems like a pretty conservative number for pay per view buys in the US mind you.
The pair did meet on Showtime a couple of years ago in their famous in-ring confrontation and Fury has fought in America before, as well as having a HBO documentary filmed on his life and career not long ago.
If it does happen, whoever wins, fighting Anthony Joshua will surely be one of the biggest fights of all time next year.
