Anthony Joshua has accepted Tyson Fury's fight offer in full with the rivals set to clash in Cardiff on December 3.
Fury made an initial offer to Joshua last week which would see the heavyweight rivals clash for Fury's world title before the end of the year. Fury offered his fellow Brit 40 per cent of a potential £75million fight purse, which Joshua later accepted.
But the date of the clash remained a sticking point with Fury insisting the fight was held on November 26 at Wembley or on December 3 at the Principality Stadium in the Welsh capital, while Joshua wanted to wait until a week before Christmas.
But Joshua's management company has now announced they have accepted the earlier date in December, tweeting: "258 [Management] and Matchroom Boxing can confirm, on behalf of Anthony Joshua, that we accepted all terms presented to us by Fury’s team for a fight December 3 last Friday. Due to the Queen’s passing, it was agreed to halt all communication. We are awaiting a response." Fury's promoter Frank Warren immediately tweeted to say: "Contract will be with you very soon."
Fury had planned to fight Oleksandr Usyk in an undisputed fight in December but the Ukrainian revealed he will not be ready until February or March, which saw Fury turn his attention to Joshua who lost to Usyk last month in their Saudi Arabian rematch.
One remaining issue which could delay an official announcement is the broadcast situation. Fury is tied to BT Sport who will insist on showing the fight on their Box Office arm, while Joshua signed an exclusive deal with DAZN before his second successive defeat by Usyk.
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However, the launch of DAZN's new pay-per-view service, which has already carried Canelo Alvarez vs Dmitry Bivol and YouTube star KSI's boxing return could provide a solution. Fury has suggested BT and DAZN run a similar simulcast to one run by FOX and ESPN for Fury's clashes with Deontay Wilder.
Fury and Joshua agreed to a fight last summer when they were both heavyweight champions, with August 14 last year the date that was all but signed. Unfortunately, Wilder was granted a bout with Fury by an arbitrator and Joshua was forced to face Usyk as a mandatory in the meantime, losing the belts and then the subsequent rematch.
