After months of waiting and uncertainty, Anthony Joshua versus Tyson Fury finally received a date and venue. The two British heavyweights will meet in a 12-round headliner on December 11 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. The news brought relief to fans, but perhaps even more so to Eddie Hearn.

The Matchroom Boxing chief appears to have settled the long-running dispute with Dana White over where the highly anticipated showdown would take place. To mark the occasion, Hearn took aim at White and broadcast partners Netflix, questioning their handling of the event.

“The f**kery involved in this fight—and we’ll come onto the fact that even Netflix put out a press release saying ‘the fight will be in conjunction with Dana White.’ There’s loads of battles to come on that because that ain’t happening either,” he told iFL TV yesterday.

“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. Dana White cannot be involved with this fight promotionally. Netflix clearly didn’t get the memo. You see, no one talks to each other.”

His comments came in response to an earlier Netflix press release that reportedly stated, “Turki Alalshikh’s The Ring and Dana White will collaborate to promote this historic showdown that will stream live on Netflix globally to its 325+ million members at no additional cost.”

Hearn had spent months navigating negotiations to bring AJ vs. Fury back to the UK, as stipulated in their contract, only for the event to remain at the center of a public dispute over who would promote it. White had repeatedly indicated that he would be involved in promoting the fight.

“So, I speak to Sella and Turki,” Hearn added. “No, Dana White is not involved in the fight. Not you. You’ve got a contract that says that he won’t beat the press up blah blah blah blah blah, and then Netflix says, “Oh yes, the fight’s in conjunction with Dana White,” so now we have to go through that process…… We stand by our contracts, and he cannot be involved in the fight.”

Turning his focus to White, Hearn remained convinced that the American promoter had lost control of the narrative surrounding the fight.

Reportedly, White, who shares a partnership with Turki Alalshik through his Zuffa Boxing, and Netflix initially tried their level best to get the AJ-Fury fight to New York’s Madison Square Garden. But the proposal confused many, including observers in the United States.

AJ and Fury are two of the biggest names in British boxing. A fight between them finally materialized after a decade of failed discussions, so the possibility of staging it in America left many perplexed.

Given the fight has crossed another major hurdle, Hearn felt that he would have to speak directly with Netflix to resolve the matter.

“And I’ll be speaking to Netflix just to remind them, right, of the contractual obligations, and it’ll be dealt with like we dealt with the other situation,” he said.

Eddie Hearn 1–0? The Dana White dispute takes a new turn

Although the venue represents a major change from the earlier proposed Wembley Stadium in London, AJ vs. Fury is now taking place in Wales, likely due to challenges related to broadcast timings, particularly for viewers in the United States and nearby regions.

Hearn still appears to have secured an important development in getting the fight back to the UK. The announcement comes after months of back-and-forth with White. The two promoters publicly traded sharp words over the fight.

Last month, Hearn was reportedly contemplating legal action against the UFC CEO over what he felt was unwarranted interference in a fight involving his fighter—AJ—without his approval. When asked about the Englishman’s proposed move, White dismissed it as yet another antic.

“Is there anybody more full of sh-t than this guy? Come on. Completely full of sh-t,” White stated.

In the latest development, White promptly echoed Turki Alalshikh’s comments about AJ versus Fury. The move clearly underscores that his role in the matchup is far from over.

But Hearn is not the only one to have voiced his disagreement over White’s role in the historic showdown. Months ago, Queensberry’s Frank Warren, who promotes Tyson Fury, also highlighted that there’s little the American can do in the fight between the two British heavyweights.

“Well, he’s not (promoting Joshua vs Fury) because the contract with Tyson says that Zuffa will not be able to promote that fight,” Warren said before adding, “I don’t know (where he has got that from). Ask him…”

It’s a different matter, as Warren later changed his stance, saying that it “doesn’t bother him at all if Dana White promotes Fury vs. Joshua.”

Taken together, it is safe to assume that AJ-Fury has finally culminated in a compromise. One side finally relented to have it staged in the UK.

So, in that context, the remaining ambiguity could be White’s role in promoting the event. Considering that Eddie Hearn will likely not accept it lying down, the coming weeks should hopefully put an end to that question as well.