White casts doubt on Fury-Joshua after 24 hours of chaos

Two days after confirming that British boxing fans had been eagerly waiting for a decade, Dana White - the UFC president and Zuffa Boxing chief named as one of the figures promoting Tyson Fury against Anthony Joshua - addressed whether the fight would take place. White was speaking at London's Copper Box on Saturday, while British heavyweight Johnny Fisher won a match against Michael Pirotton in his Zuffa Boxing debut.

However, much of the media's attention during the evening was focused on another heavyweight bout. When asked if the scheduled Fury-Joshua news conference in London on Wednesday would occur, White responded, "I have no idea."

On Thursday, Fury and Joshua were officially announced to meet at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on December 11, with the bout to be broadcast globally on Netflix. Yet, by Friday, that certainty was shattered due to a dispute over who was entitled to promote the event. The disagreement led to claims of contract breaches, potential replacement fights, and further mysterious social media posts.

For a fight that had been negotiated for so long, the 24-hour period since its official announcement had been extraordinary and not particularly flattering for the sport.

White's involvement in the fight was not entirely unexpected, as he had been saying for weeks he would be part of the promotion. However, Eddie Hearn, who has promoted Joshua throughout his career, adamantly insisted he would not. Hearn claimed that his contract specifically prohibited White and American sports entertainment company TKO from having a promotional role, while also stating that Netflix had not been made aware of this provision.

Fury's camp stated that a similar restriction had been removed from his contract to allow White to participate. Queensberry's Frank Warren took a more pragmatic approach, acknowledging that White had helped secure the Netflix deal but expressed doubt about the news conference due to ongoing disagreements.

White was generally non-committal on the future of the contest but made it clear that he believed Hearn had been detrimental to the fight. He accused Hearn of hurting the fight and not contributing positively. The uncertainty surrounding the Fury-Joshua fight continued to grow, with reports suggesting that the bout could be in jeopardy and alternative fights being discussed, including Ryan Garcia against Terence Crawford.

Crawford denied these rumors and blamed Hearn's objection to White for the situation. Neither Joshua nor his team has officially announced their intentions to withdraw from the fight.

The contractual disagreement remained unresolved, as evidenced by the conflicting statements from White, Hearn, and Warren. During the US broadcast of the Zuffa Boxing card, it was suggested that White was involved on a personal level rather than as a promoter. White rejected this notion and refused to provide any clarity on his role or if he would attend the news conference.

As of Saturday night, Netflix still listed the fight for December 11 at the Principality Stadium, and the fighters were expected to attend the news conference. However, the contractual dispute remained unresolved, leaving the uncertain future of the Fury-Joshua bout hanging in the balance.