Hearn declares victory over Dana White as Joshua vs. Fury lands in Cardiff on December 11

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will finally share a ring on December 11 in Cardiff, with Matchroom Boxing president Eddie Hearn declaring a public victory over UFC CEO Dana White after months of bitter wrangling over the fight’s date and location.

Hearn has long insisted the bout would take place in the United Kingdom, a position that put him in direct conflict with White, who had been openly lobbying to bring the fight to Madison Square Garden in New York. With the Cardiff deal now confirmed, Hearn wasted little time in making his feelings known.

“Dana White told everybody he’s promoting the show, he’s bringing the fight to America, he knows where the venue is — obviously we know that didn’t happen,” Hearn told IFL TV. “Dana White cannot be involved with this fight.”

A wrinkle emerged when Netflix, which will stream the event, appeared to credit White as a co-promoter in its announcement — something Hearn flatly rejected. “Netflix clearly didn’t get the memo. No one talks to each other. I speak to SELA and Turki [Alalshikh]. Dana White is not involved in the fight and Netflix says ‘the fight is in conjunction with Dana White.’” Hearn added that his contractual position remains unchanged: “As I’ve shown through the U.K. battle that we won, we stand by our contract and he cannot be involved.”

Hearn’s account of the negotiations portrays White’s camp as having exhausted every avenue to shift the fight across the Atlantic before ultimately conceding. “Basically, they down talked, they gave up, they did everything they could to bring this fight to America,” Hearn said. “When I told them again it ain’t happening, they gave up.”

White had not publicly responded to the announcement at the time of Hearn’s comments, but that did not stop the Matchroom chief from delivering a pointed message directly to the UFC boss. “You’ve lost. You did everything to bring this fight to America and rob the British fight fans of the fight. Give it up, son.”

The Joshua–Fury bout has been one of the most protracted negotiations in recent heavyweight boxing history, with the deal appearing close to collapse on multiple occasions in recent weeks before an agreement was finally reached.