Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua: Promoter Ben Shalom exploring legal recourse after undercard fight announced
· Yahoo Sports
Just 24 hours after the Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua Netflix main card was unveiled, one of the three undercard fights is already in doubt.
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It was announced that Martin Bakole would face unheralded Solomon Adebayo on the Dec. 11 all-heavyweight card, which was news to Bakole’s promoter, BOXXER's Ben Shalom.
"I saw the announcement at the same time you did," Shalom told Uncrowned Thursday.
Bakole has not fought since his draw with Efe Ajagba in May 2025. Talks for him to take on Guido Vianello on the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven undercard in Egypt in May ultimately did not materialize after Bakole was made an offer by BOXXER, but he believed he was out of the contract.
Shalom responded in the affirmative when asked if Bakole was still under contract with BOXXER on Wednesday and said to Uncrowned, "Nothing has changed since our position in April/May."
The BOXXER CEO told Uncrowned that the matter has been referred to his lawyers following the announcement of Bakole on the Fury vs. Joshua undercard.
Shalom suspects that Dana White's Zuffa Boxing is behind the fight and that it may have spoken to Bakole on other occasions this year.
Uncrowned understands that White had a significant role in making the Fury vs. Joshua undercard — although he is contractually barred from promoting the event in Cardiff, Wales. The other two bouts on the undercard — Jai Opetaia vs. Deontay Wilder and Da'Mazion Vanhouter vs. Michael Essomba — involve Zuffa Boxing fighters.
It is not the first time Zuffa has been accused of tortious interference, nor is it Shalom's first claim against Zuffa.
Uncrowned reported in June that BOXXER was in the process of suing Zuffa Boxing over the alleged unlawful poaching of Chris Billam-Smith and Sam Hickey. BOXXER also intended to argue that English boxer Jack Massey had at least one fight left with the UK-based promotion as well.
Don King also sent Zuffa Boxing a cease-and-desist in September after it made Noel Mikaelian vs. Jai Opetaia on the Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn undercard, while King claimed to have the exclusive rights to Mikaelian's fights. Opetaia defeated Mikaelian via ninth-tound TKO.