Chris Eubank Jr's scheduled bout with Conor Benn has been postponed after the latter returned a positive drugs test.

On Wednesday, it emerged 26-year-old Benn had tested positive for the banned substance clomifene last month.

The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) subsequently prohibited the fight from taking place, though promoters on both sides attempted to force a U-turn.

However, their efforts were unsuccessful, with the fight now officially postponed.

"After discussions with various parties, we have taken the decision to formally postpone the bout between Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn," a joint statement from the promoters read on Thursday.

"It is undeniable that the BBBofC's decision to withdraw their sanctioning was procedurally flawed and without due process. That remains a legal issue between the promoters and the board which we intend to pursue.

"However, whilst there are legal routes to facilitate the fight taking place as planned, we do not believe that it is in the fighters' interests for those to be pursued at such a late stage, or in the wider interests of the sport.

"As promoters, we take our obligations and duties very seriously, and a full investigation will now need to take place. We will be making no further comment at this time and news for ticket holder refunds will follow."

The breakdown of an all-British heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury is down to the former's promoter Eddie Hearn, claims Bob Arum.

A bout between the two - both world champions at varying points in their career - looked to be on the rocks last week after Fury repeatedly issued deadlines to sign a contract for a December 3 date.

Earlier this week, Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn admitted the fight looked dead in the water for now after negotiations collapsed.

And Fury's promoter Arum claims it was his opposite number who is to blame for the turn of events, claiming he "sabotaged" any potential deal.

"He wanted to kill it because even as late as [Monday], if he'd have said let's all get together and sit in a room and get everything finalised, it could have been done in a couple of hours," Arum told Sky Sports.

"He didn't want the fight to happen from the get-go, so he slow-played it.

"I've been in this business almost 60 years, so I can tell when somebody doesn't want something to happen and then slow-plays a negotiation.

"I knew that Eddie would find a way to sabotage the fight. He has nothing left really in his stable and he is clinging to AJ as his only potential attraction."

Fury's consistent public demands for an agreement have seen him criticised for apparently attempting to backtrack out of any fight, but Arum refutes any suggestion he is to blame.

"Tyson Fury is Tyson Fury," Arum added. 

"He hasn't been trained in law school so he wants a fight, if he's imposing deadlines which aren't really deadlines because he's sending a message, get off your asses and get this thing done.

"It was clear that was the case. So, nobody should be blamed for this fight not happening, not Tyson, not AJ, not anybody else other than Eddie Hearn."

Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua's proposed fight with Tyson Fury will not go ahead as things stand, insisting he will not "play a game" with the WBC heavyweight champion.

Fury initially offered Joshua the chance of a December bout last month, with Hearn subsequently revealing positive talks had been held with the Gypsy King's team.

However, Fury then set Joshua's representatives a deadline of September 26 to get the fight signed off, and declared discussions were "officially over" when that was not met.

Last week, Hearn told Sky Sports he was "baffled" by Fury's antics, adding: "we'll see what happens from here".

Hearn now appears convinced the fight will not take place, and has hit out at Fury for repeatedly insulting Joshua on social media.  

"As far as we're concerned, the fight's off. We're happy to continue the discussions," Hearn said in an interview with Matchroom Boxing.

"In our mind, he's not fighting Anthony Joshua. We're more than happy to continue those conversations, but what we've been told is the deadline has passed, and so have the entire country.

"We have sent the final version of the contract back, they've come back with points and we were told that the fight is off by the man himself.

"They gave us terms, ultimately, and a date they thought we wouldn't accept. We did accept that. We were ready to go. 

"If they were to sign the contract on Monday [September 26], they had a fight. We were asked to agree the deal by Monday, then we were asked to agree it by Wednesday. 

"We got the comments back on Wednesday. We were never going to sign the fight [then], and we were told the fight's off.

"It's still there. It's still open for discussion. But we're not going to play a game with a bloke that's just coming out telling AJ it's off, and then that he's a 'dosser', that he's got to sign it, etc.

"Have your fight if you fight someone else, and we'll do our thing and we'll see what happens."

Eddie Hearn has slammed Tyson Fury for his antics in the ongoing discussions for a bout against Anthony Joshua, saying he has been left "baffled by the situation".

Fury had initially set Joshua a deadline of Monday to sign the contract for a December 3 bout and said discussions were "officially over" after the paperwork was not received.

However, the WBC heavyweight champion then backtracked on Thursday and issued his compatriot another deadline for the 'Battle of Britain' bout, giving him until the end of the day to agree terms.

An imminent end to the saga seems unlikely, however, with Joshua's promoter Hearn questioning why the Gypsy King was setting "unrealistic deadlines".

"I don't want to get involved with back and forths that are going to negatively impact this fight being made, but to be honest, we are quite baffled by the situation," he told Sky Sports.

"Firstly, when we agreed terms for the fight, it took us over a week to receive a draft contract. We have not had that contract for 14 days.

"Over the next week, we've worked tirelessly and had a number of meetings with Queensberry to get the contract in some kind of decent shape. Last Monday, we sent our final draft of the contract to Queensberry, only to see that Tyson Fury had publicly pulled out of the fight and it was no longer on the table.

"Yesterday we then received comments back from Queensberry on our final draft of the agreement, of which is now being reviewed.

"I'm not sure why Tyson Fury keeps setting unrealistic deadlines whilst also offering the fight to a number of other heavyweights for the selected date. If he is serious about the fight being made, I suggest he allows Matchroom and Queensberry to keep working hard to make the fight, of which everyone has been trying hard to do.

"You can't publicly keep pulling out of a fight and then restart negotiations when there has been so many positive conversations had. We'll see what happens from here."

Eddie Hearn says there is "no chance" a contract for an all-British heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will be signed by Monday.

WBC champion Fury on Saturday warned Joshua he will "move on to fight someone else" if Joshua does not agree terms that have been offered at the start of next week.

December 3 has been pencilled in as a date for the English duo to do battle in what would be a mouth-watering and long-awaited bout.

Hearn, Joshua's promoter, says Fury must be patient as there is no way a deal will be struck so quickly.

He said on the Seconds Out YouTube channel: "There is no chance this fight will get signed by Monday. There is no need for this fight to get signed by Monday.

"If he doesn't [want to fight Joshua], and I guess he doesn't, then he'll do what he'll do and the fans might even fall for it."

Hearn this week stated the first offer from the Fury camp was not acceptable, but "positive conversations" had taken place between the two parties.

He revealed Fury will be fighting Joshua if he is realistic with his deadline.

"We have a meeting on Monday, with DAZN, with BT, with everybody, but it's going to take time," added Hearn. "If he wants to put a time frame on it of Monday then it’s clear to the whole public he doesn't want the fight.

"It's not going to get signed on Monday so if he's walking away on Monday the fight's off."

Eddie Hearn says there is "a long way to go" before an agreement is reached for Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury but "positive conversations" have taken place.

Fury offered terms to Joshua's camp following his compatriot's second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk last month, when the former Olympic champion failed to regain the WBA, IBF and WBO belts back from the Ukrainian.

A provisional December 3 date has been pencilled in for a blockbuster all-British bout and Hearn, Joshua's promoter, says progress has been made with talks after an initial offer from the Fury camp was turned down.

"It's not unusual to get a contract that you're not over the moon with - and it wasn't that they were playing games or anything like that," he told ID Boxing.

"It's just really down to the format of the agreement, which is being rectified and we're working positively to try and get that in the right shape and I think we're nearly there in terms of the format of that agreement.

"[The contract] wasn't really as we expected, but that was a few days ago and we've had some positive conversations. Reshaping that slightly, which seems to be positive.

"We've still got a long way to go. Obviously, the broadcasters have got to have their discussion. There's not a lot more to tell you other than both teams are doing everything they can to try and find a way to make it happen."

George Warren, the son of Joshua's UK promoter Frank Warren, hopes further progress can be made in talks this week.

He told Sky Sports: "We're still talking. Everything at the moment is very amicable.

"We're having fresh conversations this week. We're hoping that we're going to move forward. We're all working hard to make it happen.

"I'm not going to put a timeline on it. We need realistically to know what we're doing, what Tyson's doing. There's no ifs, buts or maybes, Tyson's fighting the end of this year.

"Timetable-wise, timescale-wise, for both fighters it looks like it could work. Everything's very amicable, everything's going okay so far and fingers crossed we get some good news for British fight fans very soon."

Anthony Joshua's management team says he has accepted terms to fight Tyson Fury on December 3.

Fury had originally wanted to face Oleksandr Usyk – who beat Joshua in Saudi Arabia in August – in a title unification bout, but the Ukrainian does not want to compete again until 2023, and Fury intends to fight before the end of the year.

That led to the Gypsy King going public with his proposal to Joshua as he pushed to set up a 'Battle of Britain' clash with the WBC heavyweight belt on the line before the end of 2022.

On Tuesday, Joshua's management team 258 announced that, along with Matchroom Boxing, the terms had been accepted, but negotiations had been postponed following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.

They tweeted: "258 and Matchroom Boxing can confirm, on behalf of Anthony Joshua, that we accepted all terms presented to us by Fury's team for a fight Dec 3rd last Friday.

"Due to the Queen's passing, it was agreed to halt all communication. We are awaiting a response."

Fury's promoter Frank Warren later replied on Twitter, writing: "Contract will be with you very soon."

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn previously declared his fighter had accepted a proposed deal for the bout, with a 60-40 split in favour of Fury.

Fury had said his team secured provisional dates with Wembley Stadium and the Principality Stadium.

The US promoter of Tyson Fury is unsure if Anthony Joshua and his camp want an all-British heavyweight fight, despite supposedly agreeing to initial terms.

Fury had wanted to face Oleksandr Usyk in a title unification bout but the latter does not want to compete again until 2023, and Fury intends to fight before the end of the year.

That led to the Gypsy King going public with his proposal to Joshua as he pushes to set up a 'Battle of Britain' clash with the WBC heavyweight belt on the line before the end of 2022.

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn declared his fighter had accepted a proposed deal for a bout with Fury on Wednesday, with a 60-40 split in favour of Fury.

Fury also said on Wednesday his team had secured provisional dates for Wembley and Cardiff, with Hearn suggesting December 17 as a good option for the bout.

However, speaking to Sky Sports, Fury's US promoter Bob Arum raised doubts about the sincerity of Joshua's camp in wanting the fight.

"I really don't think Joshua's people are anxious to make the fight now," Arum said. "Because he's come through a devastating loss and I think, conventionally, Joshua is going to want a couple of soft touches to get back in the swing of things.

"Our guy, Tyson Fury, wants to fight this year. I tried to see if we could get Usyk this year and apparently they don't want to do it until February.

"We're going to try to get an opponent for Tyson Fury – Joshua or somebody else – and make sure he gets in the ring this year.

"Eddie Hearn is just talking. Eddie Hearn, if he wanted to make the fight, he knows me well enough and knows I'm over here – he knows the Warrens. We haven't really heard from Eddie Hearn; he's really good at making statements to the press and television, but he's not – I don't think – anxious to make this fight."

Joshua is coming off a second defeat to Usyk, losing on split decision to the Ukrainian in Saudi Arabia last month, and Arum believes the Brit would not want to take on Fury at this time.

"I've been in boxing a long time and the fact that Eddie and Joshua would want this fight is, to me, incomprehensible. It makes no sense," he added.

"If I'm wrong and they decide they want it, they know where to find us and call, and stop talking to the press and talk to us and see if we can put it together."

Anthony Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn has declared his fighter has accepted a proposed bout with Tyson Fury.

The Gypsy King went public with his proposal to Joshua as he pushes to set up a 'Battle of Britain' clash with the WBC heavyweight belt on the line before the end of 2022.

Fury and Joshua had an agreement to fight in Saudi Arabia in August 2021 but those plans came crashing down after a judge ordered Deontay Wilder to be granted his rematch with Fury.

But now the fight looks likely to go ahead, and is set to be held in the UK, after Hearn confirmed an offer has been accepted.

"We offered Tyson Fury the fight when he wasn't champion, at 60-40, and he turned it down; he asked for 50-50," he told IFL TV.

"I spoke to AJ [this time], and he said, 'Look, I don't believe he's for real, but yeah, I'll take the fight. See what the offer is'.

"They came back yesterday, and me and George [Warren] kind of had an agreement that we weren't gonna talk about it, but obviously Fury came out and basically let the world know the offer.

"Sixty-forty was the offer, as Tyson said. They want a rematch clause, and they asked for a date at the beginning of November [for the initial fight]. 

"I don't know whether that was a wind-up or whatever, but we just went back this morning and said: 'We think, I think particularly, he deserves more than 40 per cent, but he's happy. And I don't make the decisions, he does'.

"So, I went back this morning and said: 'We accept 60-40, we want that reversed in a rematch, rightfully so. [Fury is] the champion here, you want the biggest split, which I think is fair - and we want to do the fight in December'." 

Fury said on Wednesday that his team had secured provisional dates for Wembley and Cardiff, with Hearn suggesting December 17 as a good option for the bout.

Hearn added: "Interestingly, they have [a date booked for] 17 December held at [what was formerly] Millenium Stadium, so that's perfect. That's perfect for us."

Anthony Joshua insisted he is a "fighter for a life" with a "hunger that never dies" amid speculation over his future after another defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk outclassed the Briton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last year, claiming the WBA, IBF and WBO belts.

The Ukrainian was challenged more in the rematch in Jeddah on Saturday, but produced a near-perfect display in the later rounds to defend his world heavyweight champion status with a split-decision victory.

One judge scored the fight 115-113 in Joshua's favour, while another had the same result for Usyk, with the third decisively awarding Usyk a 116-112 success.

An enraged Joshua picked up the belts after the fight before throwing them down, prior to returning to the ring to launch a bizarre yet impassioned rant on his background and Usyk's skills.

Joshua has now lost three of his past five fights, all of them for world titles, and could not hide his emotions at the post-fight press conference.

"It's really, really hard for me to say I'm proud of myself," he said. "I'm upset, really, deep down in my heart."

On his actions after the conclusion of the fight, Joshua added: "When you try and do things from your heart, not everyone is going to understand," Joshua explained.

"It was just from the heart. I knew I was mad at myself. Not at anyone, just myself. I was like 'I got to get out of here because I'm mad'.

"When you're angry you might do stupid things. Then I realised this is sport. I came back and did the right thing.

"I'm a fighter for life. That hunger never dies. Fighter for life."

Eddie Hearn, the promoter for Joshua, labelled his fighter an idol within world sport as he echoed the sentiments that the 32-year-old will not retire.

"This is someone who I want my kids to look up to," Hearn added. "If he's out in public, he gives everyone his time. He's one of the nicest guys. He's a competitor and winner.

"What you saw was raw emotion. A real person who wanted to win badly."

Anthony Joshua is "more confident" than ever and has signed the paperwork for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, according to the Briton's promoter Eddie Hearn.

Usyk dominated Joshua to claim the WBA Super, WBO and IBF titles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September, condemning the 32-year-old to a second professional defeat.

Joshua activated his rematch clause but plans for a second bout were thrown into doubt after Usyk returned to Ukraine to defend his homeland following the Russian invasion.

However, Usyk has started preparing for the rematch in April, with the bout set to take place in Saudi Arabia, with the Ukrainian's promoter Oleksandr Krasyuk suggesting the clash will take place in August.

After a lengthy delay for confirmation of the fight, Hearn said on Saturday that the paperwork for the clash has been signed and a formal announcement will come next week.

"This fight is on and you will get an official announcement early next week," Hearn told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"[AJ] understands that in a fight of this magnitude, things do take time. It's taken time but we're in a great place. He's been training throughout, so has Oleksandr Usyk.

"AJ is more confident than I've ever seen him going into a fight. We believe he's going to win the fight."

Anthony Joshua's rematch with Oleksandr Usyk may yet be staged in the United Kingdom, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.

Usyk outclassed Joshua to claim the WBA, WBO and IBF titles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September, inflicting just a second professional defeat on his opponent.

Joshua activated his rematch clause, but plans for a second bout were thrown into doubt after Usyk returned to Ukraine to defend his homeland following the Russian invasion.

However, Usyk has now started preparing for the rematch, which his promoter Alexander Krassyuk recently revealed looked set to be staged in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking on Friday, though, Hearn said venues in the UK are still being considered, with an announcement due to be made later this month.

"We're in final negotiations for a couple of sites for either the end of June or early-to-mid-July," Hearn said. 

"I reckon within two weeks we'll have some news in terms of where that's going to be.

"An option is in the UK. The difference is, we don't really need negotiations with a venue in the UK, we just book it."

Eddie Hearn revealed Josh Warrington broke his jaw during his victory over Kiko Martinez.

Warrington defeated Martinez in the seventh round on Saturday, to the delight of a partisan crowd in Leeds.

With that victory, his first since October 2019, Warrington regained the IBF featherweight title that he vacated in 2021.

While Warrington's win was a convincing one, it did not come easy, and promoter Hearn confirmed the 31-year-old had sustained an injury.

"Confirmed from the hospital @J_Warrington clean break of his jaw prior to stopping Kiko Martinez to win the World title tonight," wrote Hearn in a post on his official Twitter account, with the caption shared along with a photo of an x-ray of Warrington's jaw.

Warrington has options for his next fight. An all-British showdown with Leigh Wood has been mooted and unification fights with WBC title-holder Mark Magsayo or WBO champion Emanuel Navarrete are also on the table.

Oleksandr Usyk has confirmed he is preparing for his rematch with Anthony Joshua despite having returned to Ukraine to defend his country.

Usyk outclassed Joshua to claim the WBA Super, WBO and IBF titles in a unanimous points decision at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September.

Joshua activated his rematch clause, but the contest was initially thrown into doubt when it appeared a step-aside deal that would have allowed Usyk to face Tyson Fury instead was in place, but that reportedly fell through when money could not be agreed with Joshua's camp. 

There were further complications added when the Ukrainian fighter returned home following Russia's invasion.

However, Usyk took to Instagram on Friday to confirm the rematch will take place and that he is preparing, posting a video accompanied by the words: "I decided to start preparing for a rematch with Anthony Joshua, a large number of my friends support me, all the rest of the good and peace, Thank God for everything."

Promoter Eddie Hearn recently said Joshua could take an interim fight if he is made to wait for another bout with Usyk, but was confident the two would face each other at the end of June.

"I do think Usyk will take that fight next, we're looking at the end of June for that fight and that’s when the fight has got to take place by," Hearn said on the DAZN Boxing Show.

"If he's not ready, we'll push for an interim fight, but my gut feeling right now, and this could change is that you will be seeing Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk for the unified world heavyweight championship next."

Eddie Hearn thinks a world heavyweight title rematch between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk will take place at the end of June.

Usyk outclassed Joshua to claim the WBA, WBO and IBF titles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September.

Plans for a second bout have been up in the air after Usyk returned to Ukraine to defend his homeland following the Russian invasion.

Hearn, Joshua's promoter, believes Usyk will be allowed to leave his country in order to step into the ring with Briton Joshua again.

Asked whether Joshua will face Usyk next, Hearn told The DAZN Boxing Show: "I think that's the most likely scenario.

"We had those conversations about a week ago and I had my doubts as to whether Usyk would be ready, but I believe now that there’s been some kind of conversations with Usyk and even [Vasily] Lomachenko as well with the government to say 'look, how do we sit in terms of competing in major sporting events'.

"I don't think Usyk's going to want to wait, once you start waiting anything can happen, so we actually had some talks this morning."

Hearn says Joshua could take an interim fight if he is made to wait for another bout with Usyk.

He added: "I do think Usyk will take that fight next, we're looking at the end of June for that fight and that’s when the fight has got to take place by.

"If he's not ready, we'll push for an interim fight, but my gut feeling right now, and this could change is that you will be seeing Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk for the unified world heavyweight championship next."