An all-British world heavyweight title unification showdown between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua would be boxing’s ‘Super Bowl’ according to Top Rank president Todd DuBoef.
But DuBoef does not believe it’s likely that the fight happens immediately given the contractual obligations both fighters currently have. Fury is due to meet Deontay Wilder in their third fight later this year, while Joshua must meet mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides enough for big-time boxing to begin again.
There has been talk that Wilder and Pulev might be persuaded to step aside to allow Fury vs Joshua to come up next, but DuBoef told Sky Sports: “It’s just chatter, in my opinion. I think inherently the objective for everybody is to live up to the commitments that they both have, and keep it simple, and if they both get past those, let’s go ahead and do it.
DuBoef on Fury vs Joshua
“If that was early 2021, that’s great, but I think that’s what the circumstances were, where the chatter started coming back, is because of this pause in events.”
“The easiest scenario for all of us to get to – is let Joshua hopefully, if he can get past Pulev, who is going to be a tough mandatory fight for him, and let’s have Tyson get in the ring back with Wilder, and then sets up the semi-finals for the finals. “For the big Super Bowl, the big UEFA championship match between Joshua and Fury.”
Fury vs Joshua venue: America still the sweet spot
While Fury vs Joshua would be the biggest fight in British boxing history, DuBoef – whose Top Rank promotes Fury along with Frank Warren – still believes America would be the optimal venue.
“I think that the success of the big events, the biggest events in the history of combat sports, have originated from America. I keep going back to that. I think the impact and the success of a PPV being distributed from the United States to the late hours, or early hours let’s call it in the UK – we’ve seen that be very successful and the fans are connected and will stay up.
“My heart of hearts tells me that would be the ideal place, but obviously we would be open to any site and any prospective dynamic that would be different.
“To do a fight in the UK would be fantastic. Both guys are larger than life and to sync that up with the United States. But as we just said, if it was the old world, we just did under $17m with Fury and Wilder (for their Las Vegas rematch in February) and I’m not sure there was a gate in the UK that’s done that.”
