By Larry Goldberg

The biggest fight in British boxing history is currently being contested in press conferences and leaked emails instead of a ring.

Tyson Fury said this week that the Anthony Joshua fight does not look like it will happen. Eddie Hearn insists it cannot fall through because the contract is signed for the UK, and that the only way it dies is if SELA and the Saudis breach a deal they signed to stage.

In between those two positions sits a mess of accusations. Hearn claims the email that landed on journalists’ desks last week, the one detailing outstanding points between Matchroom and SELA, was leaked deliberately. “Firstly, that’s a plant, and it was sent by TKO to journalists,” Hearn told BoxingScene, adding that he was told by multiple people that TKO is financially incentivizing accounts to repost Fury’s version of events and paint Joshua’s side as greedy.

Hearn also says the addendum Matchroom actually sent to SELA for the proposed move to New York contains none of the demands from that leaked email. “The addendum does not have one of those points raised in that leaked email,” he said. According to him, it covers the tax difference on Joshua’s money plus travel, accreditation, and media arrangements, all approved by Joshua and his lawyer. SELA has gone quiet on him for days, the clock is running, and his position remains that a UK date could be announced with a press conference almost immediately.

When Rick Glaser posted his own extraordinary list of alleged Matchroom demands, Hearn swatted it down on X, writing that “our Addendum sent to SELA includes NOT ONE of the points mentioned.” Note the careful wording. The addendum. He did not say those items were never raised anywhere.

Then came the bigger claim. At his post-fight press conference Saturday, Hearn said the violations have already happened. “There has been breaches in AJ’s contract already which we’ve let slide,” he said, because the organizers were partners and friends. His word: were. He accused the other side of trying to pay Joshua less, pile on obligations, and pressure him into terms that were never in the original agreement. He also revealed that TKO, SELA, and Turki Alalshikh have reached out asking if Dana White can be involved in the fight, and Hearn’s response was to ask why.

Fury, for his part, threw the door wide open. “Get in, Dana. You wanna make the fight? You come on my side,” he said in his latest video, offering White any role he wants. Advisor, trainer, manager, take your pick, and the same invitation goes for any promoter in the sport on making this fight. So while Hearn is asking what White adds to the event, the other fighter in the equation is actively recruiting him. That tells you everything about how aligned these camps are right now.

Notably, Hearn would not confirm whether Joshua has even been paid for the Kristian Prenga fight, calling it a contractual position for another day. That is a strange thing to leave hanging if everything is fine.

Now, a word on the paid-narrative stuff, because I have some standing to talk about it.

BoxingInsider.com has been publishing since 1998. I am a two time New York State Boxing Hall of Fame Promoter of the Year. And this site has been harder on Eddie Hearn than just about anyone in the sport. We do not get his press releases. We do not get Zuffa’s either. In fact, we have been frozen out by that organization going back to the early Zuffa run UFC days, when they banned us along with Sherdog and half the internet for posting TUF 1 spoilers. Nobody has ever paid us to push a narrative in either direction. We have been Eddie’s harshest critics for free.

So when Hearn says the media is bought and the leaks are plants, understand that he offered no evidence for it. It is his account, and it happens to be the exact playbook Dana White has run for twenty years. The guy positioning himself as the last man standing against TKO is starting to sound just like them.

And Eddie, one more thing. This circus is pulling us off work that actually matters. This site has spent months in the trenches on the Ali Act rewrite, the bill that will govern every promoter and every fighter in this country. We broke down who really won the Cruz rewrite. We demanded Congress show us the bill when nobody else would. We showed how the new law hands one company the fighters, the rankings, and the belts. And through all of it, you did not lift a finger. You said nothing. The most powerful promoter in the sport, silent on the legislation rewriting the rules of the sport. But paid narratives, that you have time for.

Here is the reality. Two heavyweights, one signed contract, and a room full of promoters and executives fighting over leverage while the biggest payday in the sport sits on the table. Fans do not care about addendums. Neither do we. Make the fight.