Joshua and Hearn
Joshua will eventually face Fury according to Hearn (R) Getty

KEY POINTS

  • Fury was recently cleared to fight again, having not competed since November 2015.
  • Hearn revealed that recent talks over a Joshua vs Fury fight were not fruitful.

Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn is not convinced Tyson Fury really wants to face Anthony Joshua next as he knows he will suffer a defeat.

Fury was recently cleared to fight again, provided he gets his licence back, after he accepted a two-year backdated suspension from UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) body.

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Having not fought since November 2015, the "Gypsy King" has targeted a meeting between himself and Joshua in what has been called the "biggest fight in British boxing history".

Hearn, who promotes Joshua, is open to a fight between the two unbeaten heavyweights but recently revealed that talks with Fury were not fruitful due to his demands.

"The only way Fury is going to get the Joshua fight is with us," Hearn said, as quoted by the Independent. "So I've been talking to Fury about a plan which would lead to the Joshua fight.

"I said to him 'we can't talk about the Joshua fight now, because you can't expect to have a conversation about it when you haven't boxed for two years.' He might come back and stink the place out and have small value in the fight.

"He came back to me and said 'right, I'll make it really easy for you and give you a deal that you will accept straight away'. Then he said: 'I want a 60/40 split and all the champion's benefits. I want to walk second, it's my name on the poster and I want choice of changing rooms'.

"It made me laugh, I said 'that's great, yeah, good joke'. But he was deadly serious. He says Joshua is only where he is because of him. Then I realised he was actually serious with those terms."

Hearn also questioned whether Fury really wanted to face "AJ" next due to his steep demands, adding that right now, Joshua would "maul" the 29-year-old, especially if he does not take any tune-up fights.

"He knows he will get mauled by Anthony Joshua if they fought now," Hearn noted. "I rate Fury, he's hard to beat and awkward. He's not exciting but he's a messer who is skillful. But I'm sorry, you cannot come back after that period out and compete with AJ.

"He sees the AJ fight as two or three fights down the road so I have said let's do those fights then we will make the big one. I've offered that, I've told him I'll give him a couple and then the AJ fight," Hearn added.