Desperation In The Air: Eddie Hearn’s Misguided Approach To Luring Tyson Fury Back For A Fading Anthony Joshua

Promoter Eddie Hearn sounded desperate today during an interview, pleading with Tyson Fury to come out of retirement to fight Anthony Joshua. Hearn said the fight would be the “icing on the cake” of their “great careers” for the two British heavyweights to fight.

He said Fury likes a “pound note” and is a showman-type of fighter who wants to entertain the fans. Hearn needs ‘The Gypsy King’ Fury to come out of retirement to fight Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), who is on his last legs, a shell of his former self, and will likely be finished off once and for all in his next fight.

Desperate Move

Hearn’s options for Joshua are slim, with none of them being fighters that would bring in the kind of money that Fury would. Fans believe Hearn is looking to cash out AJ for the biggest payday possible before he retires. That’s why he’s so desperate for Tyson to come out of retirement to face him.

“This is not down to us going to the team. This is down to one man. Only one man can make this fight happen, and that’s Tyson Fury,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about the Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua ‘Battle of Britain’ mega-fight. “We’re not waiting forever. What I’m saying is that in a couple of months’ time, he comes out, but this ain’t about calling him out to fight AJ.

It’s Fury that is the one who will decide whether to fight Joshua or not again, and it’s not looking like he will unless he’s offered the kind of dough to bring him out of his mansion. $200 million dollars might be enough to get Fury to agree to the fight, but who is going to come up with that kind of dough?

There are not enough British fans to order the Fury-Joshua fight on PPV to give Fury the money he would be looking to get, and U.S fans don’t care about this fight. In their eyes, it’s just two pampered old guys who carved a career out of beating 40-year-old Wladimir Klitschko and a whole bunch of B and C-level fighters. When they were finally matched against quality heavyweights, they both lost repeatedly.

“It’s got to come to him. He’s got to say, ‘Do you know what? [I want to fight Joshua].’ By the way, he’s training every day. He looks great,” Hearn continued about Fury. “He’s the one that has got to turn around and say [I want to fight Joshua],” said Hearn.

Hearn fails to realize that he’s going about it the wrong way, trying to lure Fury out of retirement to fight Joshua. The way to get Fury to return to the ring is to focus on the money part. Hearn has to tell Tyson that his payday for the fight could be well over $100 million and talk about how he can create a dynasty of the Fury family like the Kennedys.

No Turki, No Fury

At this point in Fury’s career, he doesn’t care about legacy and the stuff that other fighters do. He’s just thinking about the cash. Hearn is the one stuck on the Battle of Britain foolishness, thinking how great it’ll be having the popular AJ and Tyson battling it out. That’s not how Fury thinks. He just wants the money and a lot of it. If Turki isn’t going to be involved in financing the fight, Fury might not get the kind of payday that he would want to come out of retirement to take a risky fight against Joshua.

“I don’t know him that well, but I know he’s a competitor, and I know, he loves to fight. I know he loves the big nights. He’s a showman, and like man, I don’t blame him, he likes a pound note [Translation: Fury likes the dough].

“I just know those two collectively could give each other the icing on the cake of a great career. But only one man can make that happen, and we wish him well whatever he does. Give us a bell, mate,” said Hearn, asking Tyson Fury to call.