Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury could drop all their titles to fight in 2021: Eddie Hearn

Heavyweight champions Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury could vacate their title in order to fight each other in an all-British blockbuster showdown next year. Both the fighters are expected to collide in what is said to be the biggest fight in British boxing history, worth more than $500 million.

Anthony Joshua recently cleared his path for the unification clash with Tyson Fury after successfully defending his WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF belts against Kubrat Pulev on Saturday. However, after the bout, the WBO president Paco Valcarcel announced that AJ would have to defend his title against No.1 ranked Oleksandr Usyk before taking on the WBC champion in a unification bout. If he denies to fight Usyk, he might have to vacate his WBO belt.

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Not just WBO, but convincing each of the governing bodies (WBA, IBO, IBF, WBC) to postpone their respective mandatory bouts to allow Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury to happen is proving to be a major obstacle. While talking about the same, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that AJ vs Fury is every close to being official, but they have yet to “iron out few issues” with the governing bodies.

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury could vacate their straps?

Eddie Hearn claimed that though he wants all the belts to be on the line for the Fury bout, he’s not getting involved in politics. He said he’s “very careful” in the discussions, but made it clear that both the fighters are ready to contest with or without the belts on the line. “We will do whatever we can to make sure that every belt in boxing is on the line in the Tyson Fury fight. What we won't be is held to ransom and we won't let politics get involved in a fight that boxing needs,” he told media.

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While Fury's co-promoter Frank Warren hopes that the deal will be finalised soon, Eddie Hearn claims that the two parties can start making contracts for the upcoming bout. Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are rumoured to collide in two bouts, with the first expected to take place in London. “We're trying to move forward collectively to let the governing bodies know we plan to stage this fight probably in May and would like this to be for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world,” Hearn told Daily Mail.

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Image Source: AP