Eddie Hearn has responded to reports that a deal for Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua has already been signed.
On April 11, former heavyweight champion Fury will make his much-anticipated return to the boxing ring for a bout with Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Should Fury make it past the formidable Russian opponent it opens up the door to several massive fights, including a highly-requested battle of Britain with Joshua.
The pair have long been linked with a fight to finally settle who the best British heavyweight of this generation really is, and it looks like it could finally be on the cards for later this year.
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Reports suggesting the fight had been signed first emerged at the end of last year, with boxing journalist Gareth Davies recently adding that he has it on good authority that the fight will take place on Netflix later this year.
But now legendary boxing promoter Hearn, who represents Joshua, has responded to the rumours, claiming that they are completely false.
When asked by to respond to the rumours on The Stomping Ground, Hearn claimed: “It’s completely untrue. There is absolutely nothing signed with Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury next. There is nothing agreed."
Hearn admitted that there had been discussions about a fight between the British pair for later this year ahead of Joshua's fight with Jake Paul, but they have been shelved since the heavyweight was involved in a tragic crash that killed two of his close friends in December.
He added: "There has been conversations and deep conversations prior to the accident that he was going to fight Jake Paul, then he was gonna fight in February or March in Saudi Arabia, then he was gonna fight Tyson Fury.
“Again, nothing signed, and then obviously the accident happened. Since then, there has been no conversations really, about that fight, other than in the last few days, conversations with Dr Rakan, Sela, starting to think about revisiting the plan.
"And I will go into camp with Anthony Joshua next week, when he starts, and we will start having conversations about what is next."
As it stands, it is not yet known when fans can expect to see Joshua step back into the ring as he continues to recover physically and mentally from the car crash.
And Hearn has claimed that it is not even certain that Joshua will want to resume conversations about fighting Fury, or anyone else for that matter, further fuelling rumours that the former Olympian could retire.
Hearn said: “Those conversations will go in tandem with Turki Alalshikh, Sela, and everybody to see the position regarding a Tyson Fury fight. We are more than up for that fight, but AJ needs to go back into camp, and we need to understand physically how long it will take him to return to boxing.”
“Right now, there isn’t even a guarantee that he returns to the ring."
Topics: Boxing, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Eddie Hearn, Heavyweight Boxing
Ben McCrum