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Joshua, Fury sign deal ahead planned historic fight

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Frank Augstein/Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

United Kingdom

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have signed a contract to fight for the right to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn made the announcement on Monday and said a two-fight deal had been signed.

Joshua will defend his WBA, IBF and WBO belts against WBC champion Fury, with a date and venue to be confirmed.

The all British fight will see all four belts contested in a heavyweight bout for the first time.

Joshua has 24 wins and one defeat from 25 professional fights, but lost his three world titles in a shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019 before eventually regaining them in a rematch.

Fury is unbeaten in 31 professional fights but hasn't fought since beating Deontay Wilder in February 2020.

“This is the biggest fight in boxing and one of the biggest sporting events in the world,” Hearn said. “It will be a major, major win for a country that wants to showcase itself.”

Hearn added: “We’d like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month. The hard part is always getting everybody to put pen to paper. But this was a major effort from all parties to get this over the line.”

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