UK boxing fans have waited a long time to fill arenas again, and it really showed when Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk tickets went on sale earlier this week. They sold out in just 24 hours!
AJ (24-1) defends his IBF, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles against former cruiserweight king Usyk (18-0) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday September 25.
A crowd of around 60,000 will pack the Premier League football stadium with COVID restrictions now fully lifted in the UK.
Tickets for the eagerly-awaited showdown between a pair of 2012 Olympic champions went on sale via StubHub on Monday August 2 at noon UK, to Matchroom Fight Pass members only.
Joshua vs Usyk ticket sales
General sale meanwhile started- again via StubHub – 24 hours later at noon UK time on Tuesday August 3.
And the tickets – priced at £40, £60, £80, £100, £150, £200, £400, £600 and £2000 (VIP) – all sold out in double quick time. There were more than 100,000 people in the queue on StubHub hoping for their chance to get their hands on tickets.
This is all a far cry for Joshua’s last fight – a successful title defence against Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev last December. Only a small crowd was allowed into London’s SSE Arena, Wembley for that bout.
Joshua knows that should he come out victorious against Usyk, there will again be a huge clamour for a unification match vs fellow British world champion Tyson Fury.
Fury of course will defend his WBC, Ring magazine and lineal titles two weeks after Joshua when he faces Deontay Wilder in their trilogy match at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on October 9. That bout had been scheduled for last weekend (July 24) but was postponed late in the day after Fury and members of his camp tested positive for COVID.
Fury vs Joshua again at stake
Fury and Joshua had agreed to a two-fight deal earlier this year, and Fury announced an August 14 date in Saudi Arabia. But within 24 hours of that, Wilder had won an arbitration ruling in the United States, forcing that third fight with Fury.
The Saudis had put up a reported $155million (£109million) site fee to stage the bout – unprecedented. Record paydays are on the horizon for both Joshua and Fury – if they get over these considerable hurdles.
