Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua: Eddie Hearn 'to miss' deadline as knife-edge talks inch towards conclusion

Dealmakers negotiating Tyson Fury’s fight with Anthony Joshua are expected to miss their latest deadline this weekend yet sources close to the two camps insist they are "still negotiating" to get the £200 million blockbuster confirmed.

Fury and Eddie Hearn, who are in Texas for Billy Joe Saunders' fight with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, had hoped to announce the bout but Telegraph Sport has been told that white smoke is unlikely to emerge within the next 24 hours. It is thought the two teams are "still negotiating but not optimistic" of a deal being confirmed, with August 14 now being discussed for the fight.

There have been Zoom meetings between all parties and communication between lawyers over finalising the contract and it is not thought that this latest delay is terminal.

Nine days ago, Bob Arum, Fury’s US-based promoter told Telegraph Sport the fight was "dead in the water" for now, citing that the contract with the Saudi Arabian group would "take weeks to complete", while Joshua’s promoter Hearn was adamant last weekend all parties were on the same page and working hard to "get the final contract over the line".

"The fight is on, this fight is happening. I believe you’ll get an announcement next week," Hearn, who was in Texas for the Saunders fight, told Sky. However, final contracts are still being ironed out for the contest to go ahead this summer in Saudi Arabia, with contract details over the proposed Riyadh site - worth a reported £107m to the blockbuster event - still not completed.

Arum had told Telegraph Sport that unless the deal was completed by Sunday, Fury would most likely move on to another opponent this summer. However, Fury sat down with Hearn in Arlington, Texas, this week, where the promoter asserted that Joshua and Fury were intending to conclude the deal, and that fans would see WBC champion Fury take on Joshua, who holds the IBF, WBO and WBA titles, in three months' time.

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Fury appeared on Hearn's 'No Passion, No Point' podcast for the BBC on Friday, in which the boxer went toe to toe - verbally - with Hearn over what might happen when the two prize fighters do actually collide in the ring. Fury claimed Joshua was "a fake, a businessman and not a spartan", in reference, perhaps, to the ongoing contract talks.

Fury gave a withering report on what would happen, in his view, when the two heavyweights do eventually collide. "When he gets cracked right in the jaw, it’s like a boiled egg with a split down the middle, it can't be repaired," he said.

"He will go. I’ll even tell you what punch it is going to be - it'll be a check left hook to the temple, his legs will go and he will fall on his face. He may get back up and I’ll knock him out with a straight right."

Fury is expected ringside to support his friend Saunders in the Briton’s super-middleweight title fight with Alvarez. It is set to break the record for the highest-ever indoor attendance for boxing in the USA with 70,000 fans.