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Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury’s long-awaited showdown could be on the brink of collapse unless serious progress is made within the next 10 days.
Both parties have agreed to meet each other in November; however, a disagreement over the location for the fight has stalled negotiations.
Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh and streaming service Netflix, which has acquired the rights to the bout, are pushing for the Battle of Britain to be staged at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Joshua, on the other hand, has it written into his contract that the contest is to take place in the United Kingdom.
AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn sent an addendum to Alalshikh last week laying out all the terms that must be fulfilled for his client to head stateside.
Among those requests is an increase to Joshua’s purse to compensate for the higher tax burden of fighting across the pond.
Hearn has also asked for Joshua’s full purse to be paid for his last outing against Kristian Prenga on July 25.
The Matchroom Boxing mogul revealed on Wednesday that he is still awaiting a response from Alalshikh.
Amidst all of the uncertainty surrounding the fight, Fury and his team are growing frustrated, with ‘The Gypsy King’s’ long-time promoter Frank Warren declaring that there is a cut-off date for negotiations.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: “Unless AJ commits by the end of next week, I’m afraid this will slip away like so many of those great fights which never happened.”
