Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury to battle it out for first DAZN UK pay-per-view
- Joe Hewlett
- 8 November 2021
Fury and Joshua are set to toe-to-toe but not in the way we all expected before the start of this year...
DAZN's deal to buy out BT Sport has made it increasingly likely that Tyson Fury's next title defence will be on the platform.
The OTT streaming service - who launched in the UK at the end of last year - will own the rights of Premier League and Champions League fixtures from next summer.
It is a major boost for DAZN who are yet to hit the high numbers in the UK like they have done in Germany, Italy and Japan, with the number of subscribers believed to be in the five-figure mark.
The DAZN/BT Sport deal means Tyson Fury's showdown against Dillian Whyte could be on their platform. And the good news for fans is there won't be any politics getting in the way of an all-British blockbuster.
Since Fury's 2018 comeback, all of his fights have been on BT Sport in the UK but with the deal in place for DAZN to takeover BT Sport, it makes the fight even easier to make - and it could be the first show to feature on DAZN pay-per-view.
That is as long as the fight can be agreed by both camps and judging by previous talks between a certain set of heavyweights, it could drag on despite hopes of it happening before the summer.
DAZN to take on Sky Sports for Usyk-Joshua 2
This is where Anthony Joshua comes into the equation...
Joshua's deal with Sky Sports has now expired following his most recent defeat Oleksandr Usyk in September. Having turned over as a professional following his Olympic success in 2012, Joshua has fought under the Sky banner and became a PPV superstar from 2015 on their channel.
The biggest PPVs in UK history belong to Joshua with his December 2019 rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr. sitting at top spot. The bout - which took place in Saudi Arabia - is believed to have generated in the region of 1.54 million buys.
It is no secret that Sky want the rights for Usyk-Joshua 2 next year but their main competitor is DAZN - who have held the rights for Joshua's most recent fights internationally, including Ruiz-Joshua 2 which did an estimated 1.8 million streams across nine DAZN territories worldwide.
With Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing now exclusive to DAZN - and Joshua committing the remainder of his career to Matchroom - there is a high possibility of it landing on DAZN PPV.
March and April are the dates being thrown around - due to the hope of delivering the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 2022 against either Fury or Whyte - and it is guaranteed to deliver huge numbers with it being a crossroads fight for AJ.
Warren responds to BT Sport's deal with DAZN
Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren responded to Planet Sport's exclusive about BT Sport being taken over by DAZN on Tuesday.
"It doesn't affect me at all. We have an exclusive agreement for all boxing on BT Sport and we have an exclusive for all pay-per-views on BT Box Office," he told iFL TV.
