The tiresome ongoing saga with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua may be nearing a conclusion, with a fight actually happening.
Gareth A Davies is reporting that Cardiff is the new “leading contender” to host the bout on December 4 or 11, provided officials in the Welsh city sign off on an extended curfew, which had become a major issue for the originally agreed location, London’s Wembley Stadium.
As you’ve surely heard by now, Turki Alalshikh — whose backing is paying for the massively expensive, long-overdue
showdown — and Netflix have wanted the fight at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Matchroom/Joshua side had balked at this, having signed to fight in the UK.
The latest word is that Cardiff, which was always sort of a darkhorse contender to host the fight, is the new frontrunner, and we may actually get this deal done and see the fight happen. Principality Stadium has a roof, so weather won’t be a concern for the fight itself.
Joshua (30-4, 27 KO) has fought at the venue before, beating Carlos Takam there in 2017 and Joseph Parker in 2018. He’s 3-0 in Cardiff as a pro, having also defeated Dorian Darch at Cardiff International Arena in 2014. Fury (36-2-1, 25 KO) has never fought in Cardiff, but has stated repeatedly during the drama around this fight that he was willing to go anywhere.
For what it’s worth, Fury’s team tell Sky Sports that three venues — Wembley, Cardiff, and probably MSG — are still in contention.
At this point, I think it’s fair to say that most fight fans just want to hear that the fight is done, officially signed, has a location, has a date, ready to go, or that it’s not going to happen and we can all move on. It’s looking close based on these latest reports, but we’ve also heard that it’s “close” before, and not even just in this cycle of negotiations, but for years now.
