Barry Hearn has warned rival boxing promoter Frank Warren that Anthony Joshua will not accept a 50-50 purse split for a prospective all-British super-fight against Tyson Fury in April next year.
Hearn, head of Joshua’s promoters Matchroom, responded furiously to an assertion from Warren on BBC 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme that the pair would share the proceeds of the big-money bout.
Fury is set to face WBC champion Deontay Wilder in the US in December and it is widely assumed the winner will then open negotiations for a contest to unify the belts early next year.
Hearn, who watched Joshua dispatch Alexander Povetkin at Wembley on Saturday night, declared: "It's not a 50-50 split against the best heavyweight in the world — you can forget that completely."
Hearn believes Wilder will beat Fury in December, which would pave the way for what would appear to be a much more straight-forward series of negotiations with the American’s camp.
And he turned his anger back on the show’s presenter Garry Richardson, adding: “It’s outrageous on national radio to try to agree terms to a commercial fight. You should know better, and Radio 5 should be ashamed of themselves.
“Wilder or Tyson Fury subject to terms on April 13th, without a problem in the world — but you (Warren) will ask for a ridiculous amount of money and it won’t be made.”
Warren insisted if Fury does pull off an upset over Wilder, Joshua will be unable to escape the pressure to square off against his long-time domestic rival.
“I believe Tyson Fury will be the winner of that fight so why on earth would anyone want to stand in its way?” added Warren.
“Everybody is sensible enough to make sure that big fights happen and I don’t believe anybody will stop that fight from happening. The only person who can stop that fight happening is Anthony Joshua.”
