Eddie Hearn has claimed that TKO approached a member of Anthony Joshua’s team directly with a written proposal, offering money for permission to promote Fury vs. Joshua, moving the fight to America and having Joshua appear at WWE events.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, Hearn said Zuffa Boxing’s motivation was positioning rather than the fight itself.
“They need to be there front and center of AJ-Fury in a fight they have nothing to do with and say, ‘Look, told you, Zuffa Boxing, we are the guys. Look, biggest fight in the world,'” Hearn said. “That’s why they offered AJ a load of money to let them do it. It also involved the fight in America. He had to go to some WWE events. This was someone who came round the back and approached a member of AJ’s team with a very clear written proposal.”
Hearn has put the figure at around $10 million. The claim is his account of a document that has not been made public, describing an approach he was not part of. TKO, Zuffa Boxing and Dana White have not responded to it.
It does explain the language he has used for the past fortnight, about being bulldozed and about people who believe they can walk in and take over.
In the same interview, Hearn gave the first clear account of how Fury and Joshua ended up with contracts that contradict each other. Asked how it was possible that his contract contained different terms from Fury’s, he said: “These people are under a lot of pressure to make fights so sometimes, and it’s not right at all and it’s probably the worst thing that you can do, but they’ll agree to things without actually thinking about both sides.”
That gap has produced every dispute in this promotion. Joshua’s agreement required the fight to take place in the UK. Fury’s did not, which is how Madison Square Garden stayed live into September. Joshua’s required both men to enter VADA testing on signing. Fury’s did not, which is why he enrolled nine days ago rather than in the spring. And Joshua’s bars Dana White, Zuffa Boxing and TKO from promotional involvement, while Fury removed the same clause from his own deal so that White could be included.
Three disputes, one cause, now named by one of the people who signed.
Hearn was also franker than he has been about what he is actually defending. Asked who is producing the event, after White said last week that UFC would handle the broadcast, Hearn said: “I don’t necessarily care if TKO produce the event, but contractually it’s a breach.”
That is a different argument from the one the past fortnight has looked like. It is not about whether White belongs in the building. It is about a consent Hearn holds and says he has not been asked for.
He put the same point more bluntly when asked whether White will be at the next press conference: “He will only be there if we allow him to be there.”
Hearn also claimed White has been ignoring advice from his own side. “Dana keeps being told, ‘Just stop. Don’t say this, don’t say this,’ and he can’t help himself. It makes it worse and worse and worse,” he said. “Five or six weeks ago, he was expected to come out and say, ‘I understand there’s a clause in the contract that means we can’t be involved promotionally. I’m going to reach out to Eddie and Matchroom, we’re going to have a sit-down.’ He was told to say that, and he wouldn’t say it.”
Frank Warren sees the whole thing differently, and said so this week. Asked by iFL TV whether White will be involved in the build-up and whether he should be, Fury’s promoter said: “I think he will be. And should he be? If he’s working with H.E. and Ring and that’s who they chose to work with, yeah, I haven’t got a problem.”
Hearn’s answer was to question how Warren would behave in the same position. “Frank, quite literally, you are the most brutal person when it comes to a contract,” he said. “If the shoe was on the other foot, you would be 20x worse than me in this situation of enforcing this agreement.”
On Zuffa Boxing itself, Hearn delivered the sharpest assessment yet from a rival promoter. “With that money, with that contract, with those connections to Turki Alalshikh, let’s be honest, the first 10 months have been absolutely abysmal,” he said.
Zuffa Boxing launched in January and has staged 12 events in 2026, all on Paramount+ in the United States under a five-year rights agreement. It has signed Conor Benn from Matchroom, along with Shakur Stevenson and Jai Opetaia, and is backed by Sela, which owns 60 percent of the promotion to TKO’s 40.
White’s view of the incumbents is no warmer. On The Diary of a CEO this week he said: “Eddie Hearn is weak. His dad built that business. His dad is a real guy. As I get deeper into this thing, his dad is the guy.” He contrasted that with Warren, and added that nobody has done more to hurt Fury vs. Joshua than Hearn.
Hearn took the compliment to his father and turned it around.
“My dad is the real guy. He’s the OG,” Hearn said. “If I’m not a real guy and I’m weak, imagine getting spanked by the guy that’s not the real guy and the guy that’s weak. Imagine what my dad would have done to Dana White.”
He says he is not looking for an apology. “He hasn’t said anything personally offensive to me,” he said.
The two are supposed to be in the same room on Wednesday. Hearn said at the weekend that he, White and Sela chief executive Dr. Rakan Alharthy would meet in Los Angeles to discuss what role Zuffa might have, telling iFL TV: “There’s always a deal to be cut.” Asked about it at the UFC 332 press conference, White said: “I haven’t heard anything about any meetings next week.”
Hearn framed the whole thing as the opening of something longer.
“You don’t win every battle. But what you must do is stand up for what you believe in, not allow people to trample all over you and not allow people to disrespect you,” he said. “They’ve got loads of power and they’ll be out for me. F***ing great. I absolutely love it. I wake up with fire in my heart every single day because of this. I’m looking forward to going into battle with Dana White and TKO. Either way, I’m game and I’m ready. I’m calm.”
He was more generous about the man paying for the fight.
“The British public will get the biggest fight in its history,” Hearn said. “The country will completely stop to watch this fight. He did it. There’s no doubt. Whether me and him end up falling out or whatever, I will always tell you: I didn’t make this fight, and I couldn’t make this fight for years. He did.”
Fury vs. Joshua takes place Friday, December 11 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, live on Netflix. Tickets go on general sale Friday, October 9 at noon BST.
