Joshua Buatsi vs Anthony Yarde in jeopardy as Buatsi warns he 'won't wait around' for fight

14/04/2024 11:52

Joshua Buatsi vs Anthony Yarde is proving difficult to get over the line.

Following Buatsi’s victory over Dan Azeez in February and Yarde’s tune-up win against Marko Nikolic the following week, both parties entered negotiations for the long-awaited all-British showdown.

However, two months on the fight is now in jeopardy.

Earlier this week, Yarde took to social media to respond to a video message from Buatsi calling on him to finalise the deal.

Yarde answered by claiming his promotional contract with Frank Warren‘s Queensberry has now expired and so this situation needs to be rectified before any further negotiations can take place.

Warren has since responded by insisting that this is not the case.

He added that a 50/50 deal for the fight had been agreed for the fight by all parties involved including Buatsi’s promoter BOXXER and both broadcasters – Sky Sports and TNT Sports.

The only party not to agree are Yarde and his representatives.

The next steps in this situation are unclear, but if both sides remain steadfast in their contract dispute, then a legal case could be necessary to resolve it.

Warren joined talkSPORT Fight Night on Saturday and explained: “He’s put this statement out that he’s been advised that his contract’s at an end.

“And my position and Queensberry’s position is that it isn’t at an end. That’s where we are.

“It’s a bit frustrating because we did agree terms with Joshua Buatsi.

“It’s quite disappointing and, I’m gonna say it how it is now, I feel he’s been badly, badly advised.”

Buatsi also joined talkSPORT Fight Night and warned that he could move on if a deal is not finalised shortly.

“If it’s getting into the legals, we all know this is gonna take longer than a couple of weeks to sort out,” he said.

“Timing’s going for me, I wanna keep active. Am I gonna wait for the Yarde fight? If it’s proposed sooner rather than later, I’ll take it. If not, I have to move on.

“Of course it’s a fight that the public want, that I want.

“I want to get into these big fights for people where it’s two big guys coming together to fight.

“But it’s not something where I’m gonna pause my career and wait on.

“If he’s gotta sort things out legally, let that be done.”