Saudi Arabia an option for Joshua bout against Fury or Wilder

London, January 24: Eddie Hearn believes the money offered to host a fight in Saudi Arabia between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder will be too good to turn down.

Joshua regained his WBA, IBF and WBO belts from Andy Ruiz Jr in December in a heavyweight rematch contested in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

While Joshua's next fight is set to be against Kubrat Pulev, the Briton's promoter Hearn has talked up the possibility of a meeting with the victor of Fury-Wilder II, which takes place in Las Vegas on February 22, later in 2020.

On Wednesday (January 22), Fury's promoter Frank Warren dismissed Joshua's claims that talks between his camp and Wilder's had already taken place, though he claimed a fight between his client and Joshua should be held towards the end of the year.

Now, Hearn has suggested Saudi Arabia would again prove to be a viable venue for such a fight, claiming the money on offer would ensure a bout would happen.

"You have new players in town that are willing to spend money never seen before in this sport. It's there, we've had the conversations," Hearn told Sky Sports.

"We did it once, in December. I know the money that they're willing to put in for this fight at the back end of the year and it's why I'm so confident of making it, because there's just too much money.

Water No Get Enemy pic.twitter.com/mdBMDfNMac
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) December 10, 2019

"There comes a time in the sport where money talks too much and, when it does, there's no going back. Even if the other guys didn't want it, they can't ignore the numbers.

"Everybody's lucky that the numbers we were talking about a year ago, they've doubled, trebled. Don't agree? You've spun it up on that roulette wheel, now take your chips and leave."

Hearn also suggested Joshua – who could also face Oleksandr Usyk – would be willing to scrap his planned fight with Pulev should the Bulgarian not agree to a venue in Britain.

"AJ's going to call the shots here and he may end up having to let the Pulev fight go if he won't fight in the places we'd like him to fight and that is in the UK," Hearn said.

"We're looking at dates around the end of May, beginning of June for the Pulev fight. Everywhere's in play – Emirates Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the London Stadium.

"We've also reached out to Twickenham as well and the Millennium Stadium have got some dates for us. In an ideal world, AJ's next fight will be against Pulev in London."