Speaking to BBC Sport after the fight was announced, Fury’s promoter Frank Warren repeatedly returned to one word: compromise.
“Everybody’s got to make a compromise,” the Queensberry boss said. “Tyson really compromised. He didn’t dig his heels in.
“He said, ‘Fine, wherever they want it, I’ll do it. If they want me to go to New York, I’ll go. They want it in the UK, I just want to get the fight on.”
The fighters had already agreed to the contest but the venue was a sticking point.
Warren says Netflix wanted New York, while Joshua, 36, was determined to fight in Britain. Predictably, their camps disagree over who finally got it done.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn described the push to keep the fight in Britain as a “two-man crusade”.
“AJ has turned down money to keep it in the UK,” Hearn told the Matchroom YouTube channel. “I wouldn’t be able to look people in the eye if I was part of the movement to take this to the US.”
Hearn says Joshua had specifically requested protection for a UK fight in his contract and refused to relent.
“We were under so much pressure to fold,” he added. “It was only really the support of the British public that made Joshua stand 10 toes down and say no.”
Warren sees it differently.
He says Fury, 38, could have insisted on his own contractual position but instead accepted Britain to ensure the fight did not collapse.
