ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper
Fury and Joshua both chose Saudi Arabia as their preferred option and will now look to secure a date for their undisputed fight
Saudi Arabia had long been the front runner having played host to Joshua’s revenge mission against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019.
And according to ESPN, that is the deal both Joshua and Fury selected.
The report claims the deal will not be secured until the site fee is placed in an escrow account by the Middle Eastern state.
A date – reportedly either July 24 or August 7 – will then be agreed and an official announcement will follow.
Joshua and Fury agreed on a financial split last summer but took until last month to finally sign a contract.
It was then left to Hearn to secure a venue and he embarked on a six-country, four-continent world tour, returning with several offers.
And he confirmed yesterday: “I’m not going to go into where it’s going to be held but it’s been agreed by both sides and you will get the date soon and the official announcement.
“Everyone wants this fight as soon as possible; there is no option for this fight to go at the back of this year.
“What was available was a summer fight for the undisputed heavyweight world championship and that’s what you’re going to get.
“Both guys want to fight twice this year; one will be in the summer and one will be in December.”
The first fight will crown the first undisputed heavyweight world champion since Lennox Lewis held the honour in 1999.
Joshua set up the fight by beating Kubrat Pulev last December while Fury has not fought since he stopped Deontay Wilder in their rematch last year.
The scheduled third fight was scrapped after one delay too many convinced Fury to walk away and instead target Joshua.
