Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom regrets that he wasn't able to sign Tyson Fury, a few months prior to the start of the boxer's comeback campaign in 2018.

In February, Fury elevated his standing to the very top of the heavyweight division when he stopped Deontay Wilder to capture the WBC world title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Hearn said he missed the opportunity to wrap up a deal with Fury, back in November when the boxer showed up in Monaco to watch Dereck Chisora face Agit Kabayel.

They never reached a deal and the 31-year-old fighter signed a promotional pact with Frank Warren. He had his first bout under Warren in June 2018, against Sefer Seferi.

Hearn admits he underestimated Fury's ability to lose the weight and get himself back in fighting form.

"I had a chance to sign him. I was in Monaco, I think I could have signed him. I didn't want to give him the fights that he wanted to take at the time, because I thought it was just too much money and the fights weren't good enough - and I probably should have done it, to be honest with you," Hearn told Sky Sports.

"I looked at him and I thought, 'You ain't ever going to come back anyway, look at the size of you,' but he surprised everybody and how wrong I was. Fury is definitely up there, and there's a few others. A few American guys that I probably had the chance to sign as well."

Hearn promotes Fury's rival, which is WBO, IBF, WBA, IBO champion Anthony Joshua.

And the goal is to eventually get together with Fury's team to finalize a unification clash with Joshua.

"There's three people involved with Tyson Fury - MTK, Top Rank and Frank Warren," said Hearn.

"They've kind of like agreed amongst themselves that all three of those must be there and present when we have a proper chat, so at some point we will have to talk, and I have no problem on the phone, face-to-face. I'm not going to let a fight like that slip away, because we don't talk."