Joshua Vs. Fury Venue Drama Continues

Venue Drama surrounding the Anthony Joshua (30-4, 27 KOs) vs Tyson Fury (36-2-1, 25 KOs) fight continues.

The former heavyweight champions had reportedly agreed to terms for a November 20 fight, but the location proved a sticking point. Joshua and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, wanted to stage the fight in the UK, however Netflix, wants the bout to take place in the U.S., specifically at Madison Square Garden in New York City to maximize the television audience it can capture.

Hearn and Joshua want the original UK agreement honored, or renegotiated terms to account for the greater tax implications of competing in New York.

Fury indicated recently he’d happily fight Joshua in Britain or in the US, suggesting the delay is due to Hearn’s ego rather than any real obstacle. Hearn in turn accused Fury of avoiding the Joshua bout by instead calling out alternative opponents like the WBC heavyweight champion Agit Kabayel and WBO champion Daniel Dubois.

For a UK venue to work for a US primetime audience, Hearn is now pushing for a 2 a.m. London start time (9 p.m. ET) at Wembley Stadium, which would require waiving of Wembley Stadium’s 11 p.m. curfew. That could be feasible given London mayor Sadiq Khan, a boxing fan, said he’s “really keen” for the city to host the fight. He recently urged organizers to get in touch with his office, noting Saudi Arabian entertainment firm Sela had already done so.

Wembley Stadium is under purview of Brent Council so any curfew extension would need signing off from that local governing body. How late the curfew could go is unclear for now, though, historical precedence for this. The Ricky Hatton vs. Kostya Tszyu fight in June, 2005, as well as two Joe Calzaghe fights — against Jeff Lacy in 2006 and Mikkel Kessler in 2007 — all began around 2 a.m. for the benefit of American TV audiences.

Alternative venues have been floated from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, also in London, to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Outside Britain, organizers looked at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

Hearn said recently he’s presented terms under which he and Joshua would agree to move the  location to New York as the venue saga continues.