Dana White agrees the argument over his role in Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua is bizarre. Eddie Hearn says Joshua’s contract keeps the UFC boss out of the promotion. White says the people who asked him to work on the fight still want him there. And while everyone debates his job title, the tickets have been flying.
Speaking with Sun Boxing’s Jack Figg, White was asked why Joshua’s side would sign a contract excluding the very person Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh wanted involved. He did not try to make the arrangement sound any less confusing.
“The whole thing is bizarre, but boxing is bizarre,” White said. “I mean, that’s why this sport has ended up where it’s ended up.” He then called the sport “bat s*** nuts” before turning his attention back to the event. “Tickets are on sale. Tickets sold like crazy and the fight’s happening,” he said.
“Definitely the biggest British heavyweight matchup ever. And it’s great for the sport of boxing that the fight’s finally going to happen.” Fury and Joshua are scheduled to meet at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11, with the event streaming globally on Netflix. Getting the two heavyweights into the same ring has taken years. Deciding who gets to help put on the show has become a separate fight.
Dana White: A Producer, a Promoter … or Both?
The dispute became public after the fight announcement described a collaboration between Alalshikh’s The Ring and White. Hearn immediately pushed back, saying Joshua’s agreement prohibited White’s involvement in the promotion. Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, also initially pointed to a contractual restriction on Zuffa promoting the fight.
White’s explanations have since covered both promotion and production, rather than settling on one role. In comments published by the BBC, he said: “I am producing the fight, me and my team will be producing the fight that night.” He then added: “I guess we’ll call me one of the promoters of the event because you do have Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn that are both promoters too, promoting the event.”
There is a distinction between helping publicise a fight and appearing as its official promoter. The British Boxing Board of Control’s named promoters are Matchroom Boxing, Queensberry Promotions and Sela. White is not on that list, and he says the paperwork does not concern him.
“I am producing the fight and I am here promoting the fight,” he told Figg. “I’ve been on a PR tour all morning.” Hearn’s objection also goes beyond whose name appears on the promotional billing. On October 4, he said TV production was prohibited under the agreement, too, and claimed Sela had confirmed in writing that White’s production comments were untrue. White, meanwhile, insisted his team would handle the show, naming Craig Borsari and Zach Candito among those involved.
White Points to a Personal-Involvement Argument
White has offered another explanation for why he believes he can participate: the restriction, in his reading, applies to companies rather than to him personally. “I know it says that Zuffa and TKO couldn’t be involved,” he said. “But it doesn’t say I can’t be, personally.”
That is White’s interpretation, not an established legal ruling. Hearn maintains that the agreement prevents White’s involvement without approval from him and Joshua. The available accounts therefore do not establish that White has found a contractual workaround everyone accepts.
Alalshikh has used the word “collaborate” to describe White’s involvement, while Hearn has continued to reject a promotional role under the existing agreement. White’s position is simpler: he was invited, and he accepted.
“The reality is that Turki wanted me to be a part of this thing. Netflix wanted me to be a part of this thing, so I am. That’s it,” White said. “If they didn’t want me to be a part of it, you wouldn’t see me trying to fight my way into the AJ/Fury fight. I was asked to do this and I accepted it.”
Asked about Hearn’s contractual objections, White also floated the possibility of a lawsuit: “If that’s the case, then I guess he’s probably got a lawsuit or something on his hands. I don’t know.” That was a response to the dispute, not an announcement that legal proceedings had begun. Hearn has left room for an agreement, saying he is not against White participating if someone explains the benefit to Joshua. White, however, disputed suggestions that a meeting had been arranged to resolve their differences.
A $34 Million Gate, Despite the Argument
The disagreement has not stopped demand for seats. More than 500,000 people entered the ticket queue when sales opened on October 9, and White put the event’s projected ticket revenue at around $34 million. “I don’t want to misspeak here, but we have this thing scaled for around $34 million,” he said.
That figure is a projection for the gate, not a confirmed final total or the event’s overall revenue. White has also given Hearn and Joshua credit for insisting the fight stay in Britain rather than move to New York’s Madison Square Garden. “You’ve gotta credit Eddie and AJ for fighting hard to keep it in the UK,” White said. “But this fight was going to do well wherever it was.”
