Dana White Gives Eddie Hearn Rare Credit for Keeping Fury vs Joshua in the UK
Dana White praised Eddie Hearn for fighting to keep Fury vs Joshua in Britain after weeks of public feuding.
Dana White has done something unusual: he gave Eddie Hearn a compliment. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the UFC boss praised Hearn for keeping the Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua mega-fight in the United Kingdom. "You've got to give credit to Eddie for really grinding that and making sure that it happened in the UK," White told Steve Bunce on Boxing with Bunce, per Boxing Insider.
In a separate interview with Sun Boxing, White doubled down. "I don't disagree," he said, adding that Hearn and Joshua deserved credit for fighting to stage the bout in Britain. White also noted the fight would have sold anywhere and would have done well at Madison Square Garden.
The praise is notable given the ongoing feud between the two sides. White and the Saudi organizers wanted the fight in the United States, with Madison Square Garden remaining a live option into September. Joshua's contract with Hearn included a clause requiring the fight to be held in Britain, and Hearn held firm until Cardiff was confirmed.
The result speaks for itself. Fury vs. Joshua is set for Friday, December 11 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. It will air live on Netflix and is for the vacant WBA "super" heavyweight title. About 80,000 tickets sold out within an hour of going on sale, per Boxing Insider, with the cheapest seat priced at 88.50 pounds and the priciest resale ticket reaching over 13,000 pounds.
White's tone has also shifted on his own role. At the UFC 332 press conference he insisted he was a promoter. By Saturday, he had softened: "I guess we'll call me one of the promoters of the event."
I never thought I would see the day Dana White publicly gave Eddie Hearn credit for anything. These two have been going back and forth for weeks over who is running the Fury-Joshua show, and now White is on BBC Radio saying Hearn deserves props? That tells you everything you need to know about how well this fight is selling.
80,000 tickets gone in under an hour. Cardiff on a Friday night in December for a fight that should have happened five years ago. Hearn was right to fight for the UK location. The atmosphere at the Principality Stadium is going to be absolutely electric, and a British crowd for a British mega-fight is the way this should go.
White calling himself "one of the promoters" instead of THE promoter is a nice little retreat too. The contract says what it says. Put the fight on, let the guys get paid, and stop arguing about whose name goes on the poster.
KEEP TALKING FIGHTS.
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