Anthony Joshua insists he WILL sign his contract to fight Tyson Fury in December.
The heavyweight rivals have been negotiating over the Cardiff clash for several weeks with Fury vowing to walk away from the deal if Joshua does not sign by Monday. But Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn insists nothing will be finalised tomorrow as there are still issues to iron out.
The main sticking point is the broadcast deal with Fury aligned to BT Sport and Joshua to DAZN but executives from both are scheduled to meet tomorrow with Joshua’s team having already verbally accepted Fury’s offer of a 60-40 purse split.
And in a video posted to social media, Joshua said: "I’ve been signing contracts for years. It ain’t in my hands, it is with the legal team, that's why you hire lawyers. You know the history of boxing, make sure you get your legal terms right.
"That’s why you have good management and good lawyers. Of course I’m going to sign the contract, it’s just with some lawyers at the minute." Joshua had hoped to push the fight back until a week before Christmas but ultimately accepted Fury's preferred December 3 date.
But Hearn showed his frustration with Fury's constantly changing demands when he told Seconds Out: "There is no chance this fight will get signed by Monday. There is no need for this fight to get signed by Monday. If he doesn’t (want to fight Joshua), and I guess he doesn’t, then he’ll do what he’ll do and the fans might even fall for it."
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Hearn said the contract sent by Fury’s promoter Frank Warren was “all over the place” and while it is understood the sticking points relate to relatively minor details, Hearn is adamant his team will not be rushed.
“We have a meeting on Monday, with DAZN, with BT, with everybody, but it’s going to take time,” added Hearn. “If he wants to put a time frame on it of Monday then it’s clear to the whole public he doesn’t want the fight. It’s not going to get signed on Monday so if he’s walking away on Monday the fight’s off.”
