actually you seem to be falling for it. you think Fury stopped negotiations. Fury's still waiting for the other side to sign the agreement. Hearn went from saying December 3 is very tight, very soon, to taking a cavalier approach and stringing things out with obvious no urgency. Fury's insane . that explains his behaviour. but what's Hearn's excuse?
not at all. firstly the venue and date are well known. I haven't heard that they are squabbling about gloves or ring size. but honestly that shouldn't take any time at all. it's a boxing match. you get in the ring with gloves and there are only a few different types of gloves and sizes of ring. these are easy to decide really. if they want a fight. it shouldn't take weeks on points like that. not even days. more like minutes or hours at most.
Warren put pressure on Dillon Whyte to get the contract signed and returned for their fight a few months ago. When Whytes lawyer Jeffrey Benz questioned some of the clauses in that contract, Warren said if you weren’t happy with it why sign it? He went on to say that once you’ve signed a contract the negotiating is over, so if you’re not happy with everything don’t sign the contract. Now they’re bitching about Hearn not rushing through the signing of a much more complex contract! If I knew what Warren/Fury had done to Benz/Whyte I wouldn't be signing anything until my lawyers had checked it over either. Having said all that, I’d just like a little more patience, transparency and professionalism applied to this by both sides.
Congratulations, threadstarter, on your astute assessment of the situation. We have a strong anti-Fury contingent here, as well as a cult of Usyk devotees who have predictably adopted Oluwafemi's cause as their own ever since the Ukrainian stylist domesticated him and rendered him no threat to them, so there are still plenty here who can't/won't see it for what it is (a deadlock brought about by tried-and-tested Hearnian stalling/PR charm offensive/dissimulation strategies), but, Google around, you'll find that plenty of discerning observers in other parts of the internet are getting hip to the established patterns. And ol' Bobby A. certainly knows what's up; [September 21] "We’ve been exchanging documents with Matchroom. We don’t think that Hearn wants to make that fight. We really don’t think he wants to make that fight. We’re giving him every opportunity to make that fight. And if we can’t make it very shortly, Fury will fight somebody else. We have another opponent lined up. I think Hearn knows, like most boxing people know, that all things being equal, that Fury will knock Joshua out. That Joshua’s very suspect now and very tentative. And he’s still a draw card, so why would you wanna cash in on your draw card? So, I don’t think he’s gonna do it. I think he’s just ****in’ around with the Warrens. We talk with the Warrens every day because we’re partners, but we’re letting them carry the ball." [October 2] "Eddie Hearn is stalling everything, because he doesn’t want the fight to happen. And why doesn’t he want the fight to happen? Because Joshua’s lost three out of his last five fights and he figures to lose again if he fights Tyson Fury and so Eddie is in effect being an impediment. I don’t know of any issues, he sends a draft and then Frank and George reply and then we don’t hear from Eddie for days, he’s stalling until it dies of its own volition." DAZN's and Eddie's interests converge here. They don't want the fight, and Joshua does what his bosses tell him. Funny for sure, but still a pity.
actually, Whyte was given plenty of time to sign the contract and used all of the time. the deadline was set by WBC, not Warren. this was the mandatory challenge Whyte had been asking for for years. Warren paid him a king's ransom. for a fight set for December 3rd, the understanding would be that both parties would be prepared to work at an exceptionally quick pace. Hearn and AJ were the first to query the date as being too soon, so once they accepted, shouldn't we expect them to work quicker? honestly, for a boxer coming off 2 losses and not in a mandatory position, they should expect to concede a few things in the contract, they have had it all their own way for years - but by most accounts they were quibbling over minor points. which is fine, if they wanted to pass on the offer, that's fine. but instead they pretended to be up for it. i think AJ will regret this more than Fury, in future.
it's interesting how easily manipulated people are by Eddie Hearn when it comes to anything Fury/AJ related.
