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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Charlie Bennett

Tyson Fury's dad John offers to fight Eddie Hearn on Anthony Joshua undercard

John Fury has hilariously declared that he wants to fight promoter Eddie Hearn for free. The 58-year-old, dad of WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson, has grown frustrated after talks between Fury and Anthony Joshua’s camp appear to have broken down.

Fury Jr reached out to Joshua after his rematch defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in August, offering the two-time heavyweight king another shot at redemption on December 3. Should the two boxers ever meet, the bout is expected to be the biggest fight in British boxing history.

Despite a loose agreement being reached for the showdown to take place in Cardiff, discussions - as is often the case - fell through. The Gypsy King originally placed a 10-day deadline for the fight to be confirmed before U-turning 48 hours later.

READ MORE: Tony Bellew sends message to Tyson Fury over 'crazy' Mahmoud Charr fight

However, Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, insisted there was “no chance” of rushing through the details, with international broadcast agreements and sponsorship issues yet to be ironed out. There is still optimism among boxing fans that any hurdle can be overcome ahead of a potential megafight this winter.

Now, in the aftermath of the drama, Fury Sr has challenged Hearn to a showdown on the undercard. Unsurprisingly, the former boxer also backed his son to “polish off” Joshua should they ever meet.

"Tyson wants to show the public and the world he's the number one heavyweight in the world and cement his place in history," Fury Sr told FreeBets.com. "Diehard AJ fans will follow no matter what. They'd still back him if he couldn't beat a pork pie.

“That's what fans do and good luck to them, but if they think he has a chance against my son, they're severely mistaken. Two different leagues: AJ is a good fighter; Tyson is a brilliant one. It's a gulf in class, same for Usyk as well. Tyson wants all the belts and to have notable scalps along the way.

“He wants to get them all polished off while he’s at his best. We will make these fights happen. I’ll fight Eddie Hearn on the undercard too for the AJ fight. I’ll do that for free! If they sign the contract, I’ll box Eddie Hearn on the undercard for free!"

Fury Sr also slammed Hearn for costing Joshua £100million - placing responsibility on the promoter for allowing talks to stall. He added: "This is a video to Eddie Hearn, Mr Brains of Britain,” he said. “Let me explain to you my friend how you cost your man over £100million.

"£15m step-aside money, free money, then Tyson would have gone and done what AJ couldn’t do. He would have gone and beat Usyk and brought all the belts back to the UK. So, yeah, you don’t need to be the brains of Britain to see how you cost him money and put him in a position where he was on a hiding to nothing, Mr Brains of Britain."

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