Most major heavyweight boxing fights are now taking place in Saudi Arabia, but Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua could yet break the mould.
We’ve been waiting several years for the two British titans to finally get it on inside the ropes, despite sparring verbally. Along with their promoters Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn of course. Now it appears they once again could be close to meeting at last.
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The massive Saudi investment into boxing in recent months has been a game changer – Joshua faces Francis Ngannou in Riyadh on Friday night and Fury matches Oleksandr Usyk for all the heavyweight marbles on May 18.
Turki Alalshikh wants the winners of those two bouts to meet – leaving a path to Fury vs Joshua again. But why would their showdown not take place in the desert as well?
Fury vs Joshua venue
Fury’s manager Spencer Brown for one believes it isn’t a done deal that the long-awaited all-British blockbuster would take place in Saudi.
He told The Stomping Ground: “We’ve talked about this and it’s all down to money really, isn’t it. It’s the biggest fight – apart from Usyk it’s the biggest fight in the world. I think it would sell Wembley out two or three times.
“The trouble is, you can only get so much money in England – anybody will tell you, Frank will tell you, Eddie will tell you. There’s only so much money to get.
“Whether, it would be a massive statement from the Saudi Arabians to put on a show in England wouldn’t it, a huge statement.
“I think they’d be willing to enter into something like that – we have talked about it, there’s been talks but at the moment they’re concentrating on what they’ve got. They’ve got a lot of fights in hand.”
Those fights in hand are pretty special too. As well as Joshua vs Ngannou on Friday night we get that terrific Joseph Parker vs Zhilei Zhang matchup. Then of course Fury vs Usyk on May 18.
It’s not just the heavyweight division getting love either – the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol unification blockbuster at light-heavy is slated for June 1.
