Eddie Hearn is playing dangerous games with this British heavyweight clash. Anthony Joshua looks eager to avoid Tyson Fury entirely. Matchroom is scurrying behind old legal clauses to ban Dana White from the promotion. When an outside investor supplies the entire purse, promoters do not possess the leverage to dictate terms.

Hearn fears the American fight executive because Zuffa Boxing represents a direct threat to his promotional territory. The Matchroom boss built a career presenting himself as the central figure of European boxing. Having a powerhouse promoter step directly into the room exposes Hearn as obsolete. Using a restrictive covenant to torpedo the mega event looks like calculated sabotage to protect Joshua from another knockout loss.

The “issue” that is jeopardizing Fury-Joshua is Dana White’s involvement, multiple sources told SI. Turki Alalshikh, who is bankrolling the fight, wants him as a promoter. AJ and Eddie Hearn don’t, and have a contract that says Zuffa can’t be. Fight very much in peril.

Chris Mannix filed this report on X.

If Alalshikh wants White running the promotion, Hearn needs to step aside or watch the money vanish. The Saudi authority holds all the cards. Matchroom cannot fund a stadium event of this magnitude independently without massive financial backing. Trying to strong-arm the financier by hiding behind fine print reveals sheer panic. Joshua has been protected for years against elite competition, so finding an administrative loophole to dodge Fury fits the usual Matchroom playbook.

Fans have waited nearly a decade to see these British heavyweights collide in the ring. Throwing the entire card into the trash because of bruised egos over Dana White confirms how terrified Hearn is of losing control. If Joshua refuses to accept the terms established by the man paying his astronomical purse, the entire boxing world will recognize this move as an outright duck.

British fight fans will never forgive Eddie Hearn if his territorial tantrum over Dana White destroys this domestic clash. The public has spent years listening to promotional spin while Matchroom manufactured soft touches to shield Anthony Joshua from reality. Torpedoing the Tyson Fury mega event over promotional vanity will permanently destroy Hearn’s standing with the UK audience.

The financial reality is equally devastating for Matchroom. Joshua will not see anything close to this kind of purse without Turki Alalshikh bankrolling the card. Traditional pay-per-view structures and gate receipts in London cannot generate the astronomical numbers offered by Riyadh. If Hearn alienates the investor paying the bills, that colossal payday disappears instantly. Matchroom cannot recreate that money pool on its own, leaving Joshua with severely diminished earnings.

Joshua is far too advanced in age to survive against legitimate punchers at the top of the division. His punch resistance vanished years ago, crumbling under the slightest pressure. Matchroom spent the era following the Andy Ruiz debacle engineering safe assignments to mask his decline. Throwing Joshua into the ring with prime contenders without that manufactured protection invites disaster.

As 2027 approaches, the standout fight that boxing fans want to see seems to be a potential cruiserweight showdown between David Benavidez and Jai Opetaiaand former two-division world champion Andre Ward has shared his verdict on the proposed bout.

Opetaia defeated the then-reigning WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian earlier this month, but he didn’t get his hands on the belt despite the win.

Instead, due to that bout not being sanctioned as a title bout, interim champion Michal Cieslak was elevated to full WBC cruiserweight world champion and ordered to face Benavidez next.

The victor of Benavidez-Cieslak, which is mooted for December 12, will then be ordered to defend all three of their world titles against two-time IBF champion Opetaia, who remains undefeated despite twice losing his status as champion.

Speaking on the All The Smoke Fight podcast, Ward detailed what Opetaia must do in order to get the better of ‘The Mexican Monster’ and claim the WBA, WBO and WBC titles.

“That is the fight that needs to get made in the cruiserweight division, David Benavidez and Jai Opetaia. It takes a lot of skill to slow down an offensive guy like David Benavidez, it’s not just skill but it’s toughness too because he is only going to respect you by hitting him.

“You are going to have to get your respect at a certain point in time, but you also can’t get dragged into throwing 100/110 punches per round or whatever it is that he throws as a cruiserweight.

“You can’t get caught up in that because that’s not your game, but you have got to do enough to let him know that you are here. You have got to land enough to let him know that you are there – and you have got to try and stay up on the points as well,

“I think, for Jai, he has got to find a healthy balance because he has got good legs. He has got to understand where to be and when to be there, what angles to take but then also to instinctively know when to stand and rumble for 5, 10, 15, 20 seconds and give David what he likes and then go back to doing what he does, which is easier said than done.”

With Benavidez-Cieslak set for December, Opetaia is expected to remain on the sidelines until his shot at the winner, with that mandated bout anticipated to take place around Cinco De Mayo next year.

Hall of Fame trainer and analyst Teddy Atlas would favour one man in a “big way” if Ryan Garcia ends up facing Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz.

The American successfully defended his WBC title earlier this month, flooring Conor Benn with a right hand and ultimately stopping his man in round two.

In doing so, Garcia retained his status as a world welterweight champion after dethroning Mario Barrios with a unanimous decision victory in February.

Prior to that, he looked far less impressive while getting outpointed by Rolando Romero, with his second professional defeat arriving at the completion of a year-long doping ban.

Based on his latest performance, however, Garcia appears to be fighting with supreme confidence as he targets another outing in 2026.

Standing in the opposite corner, he hopes, will be super-lightweight contender Cruz, who scored a sixth-round knockout over Nestor Bravo last weekend.

For all the Mexican’s strength and tenacity, though, Atlas has said on his YouTube channel that Garcia – who is around 6in taller – would surely punish Pitbull with his long-range attacks.

“With [Garcia’s] style on the outside and the sharpness of [his] punches – the right hand and the left hook – he’s going to have a lot of chances to catch [Cruz] just like he caught Benn.

“Cruz has a good chin – he’s a gutsy guy. And he’s a little more clever than he might have looked [against Bravo]. He’ll move his head, he’ll do certain things … he can even use his jab, at times.

“But, at the end of the day, you gotta favour Garcia in a big way. Is it a step too far [for Cruz] as far as size [is concerned]?”

While having campaigned at 140lbs for his last six fights, Cruz is, indeed, a much naturally smaller man than Garcia, who appears to have found an appropriate home at 147lbs.