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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDana White Calls Fury vs. Joshua Contract \u201cBizarre\u201d as He Insists He\u2019s Involved<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Dana White agrees the argument over his role in Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua is bizarre. Eddie Hearn says Joshua\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n Speaking with Sun Boxing\u2019s Jack Figg, White was asked why Joshua\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n \u201cThe whole thing is bizarre, but boxing is bizarre,\u201d White said. \u201cI mean, that\u2019s why this sport has ended up where it\u2019s ended up.\u201d He then called the sport \u201cbat s*** nuts\u201d before turning his attention back to the event. \u201cTickets are on sale. Tickets sold like crazy and the fight\u2019s happening,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely the biggest British heavyweight matchup ever. And it\u2019s great for the sport of boxing that the fight\u2019s finally going to happen.\u201d Fury and Joshua are scheduled to meet at Cardiff\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n The dispute became public after the fight announcement described a collaboration between Alalshikh\u2019s The Ring and White. Hearn immediately pushed back, saying Joshua\u2019s agreement prohibited White\u2019s involvement in the promotion. Fury\u2019s promoter, Frank Warren, also initially pointed to a contractual restriction on Zuffa promoting the fight. <\/p>\n White\u2019s explanations have since covered both promotion and production, rather than settling on one role. In comments published by the BBC, he said: \u201cI am producing the fight, me and my team will be producing the fight that night.\u201d He then added: \u201cI guess we\u2019ll 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.\u201d <\/p>\n There is a distinction between helping publicise a fight and appearing as its official promoter. The British Boxing Board of Control\u2019s named promoters are Matchroom Boxing, Queensberry Promotions and Sela. White is not on that list, and he says the paperwork does not concern him. <\/p>\n \u201cI am producing the fight and I am here promoting the fight,\u201d he told Figg. \u201cI\u2019ve been on a PR tour all morning.\u201d Hearn\u2019s 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\u2019s production comments were untrue. White, meanwhile, insisted his team would handle the show, naming Craig Borsari and Zach Candito among those involved.<\/p>\n Dana White talks Fury\/AJ: “I am producing the fight, me and my team will be producing the fight that night. And obviously I am, I guess we\u2019ll call me one of the promoters of the event, you know, because you do have Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn that are both promoters too,\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Jed I. Goodman \u00a9 (@jedigoodman) October 10, 2026<\/p>\n 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. \u201cI know it says that Zuffa and TKO couldn\u2019t be involved,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it doesn\u2019t say I can\u2019t be, personally.\u201d <\/p>\n That is White\u2019s interpretation, not an established legal ruling. Hearn maintains that the agreement prevents White\u2019s involvement without approval from him and Joshua. The available accounts therefore do not establish that White has found a contractual workaround everyone accepts. <\/p>\n Alalshikh has used the word \u201ccollaborate\u201d to describe White\u2019s involvement, while Hearn has continued to reject a promotional role under the existing agreement. White\u2019s position is simpler: he was invited, and he accepted. <\/p>\n \u201cThe 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\u2019s it,\u201d White said. \u201cIf they didn\u2019t want me to be a part of it, you wouldn\u2019t see me trying to fight my way into the AJ\/Fury fight. I was asked to do this and I accepted it.\u201d <\/p>\n Asked about Hearn\u2019s contractual objections, White also floated the possibility of a lawsuit: \u201cIf that\u2019s the case, then I guess he\u2019s probably got a lawsuit or something on his hands. I don\u2019t know.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s projected ticket revenue at around $34 million. \u201cI don\u2019t want to misspeak here, but we have this thing scaled for around $34 million,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n That figure is a projection for the gate, not a confirmed final total or the event\u2019s overall revenue. White has also given Hearn and Joshua credit for insisting the fight stay in Britain rather than move to New York\u2019s Madison Square Garden. \u201cYou\u2019ve gotta credit Eddie and AJ for fighting hard to keep it in the UK,\u201d White said. \u201cBut this fight was going to do well wherever it was.\u201d<\/p>\nDana White: A Producer, a Promoter \u2026 or Both?<\/h2>\n
White Points to a Personal-Involvement Argument<\/h2>\n
A $34 Million Gate, Despite the Argument<\/h2>\n