BoxingNews24 reports that Eddie Hearn’s successful push to keep Anthony Joshua’s preferred country for a fight with Tyson Fury has drawn a stark warning from Roy Jones Jr. While Joshua and Fury were reported to have agreed to fight on November 20 at Madison Square Garden, the contest is now said to be likely to take place at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11. Jones fears Hearn’s enforcement of Joshua’s contract — and the resulting clash with powerful financial and broadcast interests — could harm Matchroom’s future access to the biggest cards and paydays.
What happened
Fight shifts from New York talk to likely Cardiff date after contractual fight
BoxingNews24 reports Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury had agreed to meet on November 20 at Madison Square Garden, but Eddie Hearn resisted the New York venue because Joshua’s contract reportedly required the fight to take place in Britain. That dispute now appears to have produced a compromise: the heavyweight clash is said to be likely to land at Principality Stadium in Cardiff on December 11. The report adds that a reported local start time around 02:00 would push the live finish into American prime time so Netflix could show the event to a US audience.
Reaction
Roy Jones Jr: Hearn ‘won a battle, but he’s gonna lose the war’
Roy Jones Jr told Parimatch Slots Site, via BoxingScene, that while he applauds Hearn for enforcing Joshua’s contract and fighting the pressure from parties including Turki Alalshikh, Sela, Netflix, Dana White, TKO and Team Fury, he warned the promoter may have damaged his standing with the organisations that now control major boxing money. "Hearn has won a battle, but he’s gonna lose the war. I just think it’s because Turki has enough money to do whatever he wants to do... But my hat goes off to Eddie for fighting," Jones said.
Business implications
Report highlights risk to Matchroom’s future access to big-money partners
BoxingNews24 frames the disagreement as more than a one-off venue dispute. The report says Turki Alalshikh and the Saudi-backed operation have the financial resources to partner with other promoters, and that Frank Warren has remained aligned with the Riyadh group while showing flexibility over the Fury–Joshua date and location. It also notes Dana White and TKO favour a more centralised structure for fighters and purses — a model that could sideline promoters who prioritise larger individual purses, potentially limiting Matchroom’s route to the deepest pockets in the sport if relationships sour.
Impact on fans and future fighters
Cardiff compromise criticised for practical and strategic drawbacks
The BoxingNews24 piece argues the proposed Cardiff solution weakens the value of a British home fight by reportedly scheduling a very late local start so the broadcast fits US prime time. The report warns that asking tens of thousands of fans to remain inside a stadium into the early hours would create logistical problems and reduce the live audience’s experience. It also raises a wider concern: Hearn is said to be staking significant company equity defending a 36-year-old Joshua’s contractual preference, which the report suggests could leave Matchroom’s younger fighters — named in the piece as Jaron Ennis, Diego Pacheco and Conor Benn — disadvantaged if access to Saudi-backed events narrows.
