Dana White unable to confirm Fury-Joshua fight or launch news conference

Dana White said he did not know whether Tyson Fury's fight against Anthony Joshua would happen, adding fresh uncertainty to a contest officially announced two days earlier. BBC Sport reported that the UFC president and Zuffa Boxing chief also could not confirm whether the scheduled London launch news conference would take place on Wednesday.

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White spoke at London's Copper Box on Saturday, where Johnny Fisher defeated Michael Pirotton on his Zuffa Boxing debut. His comments came after Thursday's announcement that Fury and Joshua would meet at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on 11 December, with Netflix showing the fight globally. As of Saturday night, BBC Sport reported, Netflix continued to list the bout and said both fighters would attend the news conference.

The disagreement centres on promotional rights. The announcement presented the event as a collaboration involving Turki Alalshikh's The Ring and White, without naming Joshua's long-time promoter Eddie Hearn or Fury's long-time promoter Frank Warren. Hearn subsequently said Joshua's contract barred White and American sports entertainment company TKO from taking a promotional role, and claimed Netflix had not been told about that provision.

Hearn said breaches of the agreement needed to be addressed and questioned whether Wednesday's event would proceed. Fury, meanwhile, said a similar restriction had initially been included in his own contract but was removed because he wanted White involved. Those accounts describe the parties' positions; BBC Sport reported that the contractual disagreement remained unresolved.

Warren had told BBC Sport, before the latest escalation, that he understood White had helped secure the Netflix agreement and that compromises had been needed to arrange the fight. White criticised Hearn's handling of the event on Saturday. He also rejected a suggestion made during the US broadcast that he was assisting Alalshikh personally rather than acting as a promoter, leaving his precise role disputed.

Despite the uncertainty, the fight had not been officially cancelled in BBC Sport's account. Joshua had made no announcement that he intended to withdraw. The distinction remains important: White's inability to confirm the contest or its launch event does not itself establish that either has been called off, while Netflix's continued listing does not resolve the disagreement over promotion.