By Idriss LAWAL
Unexpected location emerges for Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua as fight date becomes clearer
Promoter and manager Eddie Hearn has floated two potential locations for Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s long-awaited showdown, which, according to the Matchroom promoter, is set to take place in November.
The most desirable venue for their all-British heavyweight clash is perhaps London’s Wembley Stadium, despite it being winter, where ‘AJ’ has previously headlined four pay-per-view events.
Fury, meanwhile, has only graced the hallowed turf of Britain’s national stadium on one occasion, back when he stopped Dillian Whyte in round six of their 2022 WBC title fight.
Since then, ‘The Gypsy King’ has lost his world championship following back-to-back points defeats to Oleksandr Usyk in 2024, with his most recent outing arriving against Arslanbek Makhmudov, who he unanimously outpointed, in April.
But despite returning to the win column, the 37-year-old has teased yet another warm-up fight, possibly in August, ahead of his domestic dustup with Joshua.
It remains to be seen whether this plan actually materialises, but Joshua’s interim bout is set – he must take care of Kristian Prenga in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on July 25.
The 36-year-old’s last assignment resulted in a sixth-round finish over Jake Paul in December, which followed his devastating fifth-round stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
With a win over Prenga, though, Joshua could end up facing Fury in the UK or USA, which, according to a Matchroom Boxing interview with promoter Hearn, are the two locations being discussed for later this year.
“[The] UK and America are both in discussions right now. It’ll be down to [Turki Alalshikh] where that fight’s held, but we’re being told middle of November. [Joshua’s] got to get the job done against Prenga first.”
Joshua’s only two stateside performances saw him stop Paul and suffer a shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, while Fury entered all three of his encounters with Deontay Wilder in America.
The inclusion of the US is surprising, with the consensus previously being that if the bout was not in the UK, it would land in Saudi Arabia, given Turki Alalshikh’s involvement in getting it over the line.
