JUST WHERE WILL FURY VS JOSHUA END UP TAKING PLACE?
Finally, after years of back-and-forth between both teams, it’s been confirmed that Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will fight each other later this year, but with the announcement came no exact date and no confirmed venue.
With Eddie Hearn recently revealing to us that the fight will take place in either the UK or the USA, ruling out Saudi Arabia, we’ve picked out six potential venues — three in the UK and three in the US — where we could finally see the biggest fight in British boxing history take place.
UK:
Wembley Stadium, London
The first and most obvious place for the fight to take place would be Wembley Stadium.
Without doubt the most iconic stadium in the UK, it has hosted fights such as Joshua vs Klitschko, Fury vs Whyte, Froch vs Groves II, Dubois vs Joshua and many more.
With a capacity of around 95,000 for boxing events, it’s the perfect fit for a fight of this magnitude.
If it’s in the UK, you could probably sell this fight ten times over at Wembley. It may be happening a few years later than most would have wanted, but it’s still the biggest fight in British boxing history and one of the biggest fights in boxing history, whether there’s a world title on the line or not.
The downsides? Well, there are barely any. It’s the safe option and the option you know will please everyone.
Old Trafford, Manchester
Now for one that would certainly please big Manchester United fan Tyson Fury, we’ve picked out Old Trafford as a potential venue for the fight.
To date, it has hosted only one major boxing event in its history, back in October 1993, when Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn battled to a split-decision draw in their highly anticipated rematch.
Since then, Manchester has produced stars such as Anthony Crolla and the late, great Ricky Hatton, who probably couldn’t have thought of anything worse than boxing at Old Trafford considering how much he adored Manchester City. However, there’s never really been a big enough name or fight that you could be certain would fill the stadium.
With a capacity of nearly 75,000 for football events, a boxing configuration could potentially push that figure close to 90,000, which would be only a few thousand fewer than Wembley.
It’s no secret that Turki Alalshikh likes to push the boundaries and, being a big Manchester United fan himself, hosting the first major boxing event at Old Trafford in more than 30 years would only add to the enormity of this fight.
There have been no talks or rumours about Old Trafford being a possibility. However, with no venue announced yet, they may simply be waiting for the Premier League fixtures to be released later this month before making a move to secure it.
Wembley is great, but it’s been done many times before. Old Trafford hasn’t, and it would make the fight even more of a spectacle.
In terms of negatives, there are very few. However, the fact it hasn’t hosted boxing in over 30 years may make it logistically more difficult compared to Wembley.
Principality Stadium, Cardiff
The final UK venue that could be an option is the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
It has played host to some cracking fights over the years, including Joshua vs Parker and Calzaghe vs Kessler in 2007, proving that it has the capability to stage a major boxing event.
With a capacity of around 80,000 for boxing events, it’s an enormous stadium, but it still doesn’t hold as many fans as Wembley and likely fewer than Old Trafford could accommodate.
One thing it does have massively in its favour is a roof. This fight is set to take place as Britain approaches winter and, as we all know, the weather at that time of year can be extremely unpredictable.
As a result, it may well be a dark horse to host this fight, but it’s certainly a venue that fans would be happy with nonetheless.
The main concern with the Principality Stadium is capacity. It holds more than 15,000 fewer fans than Wembley, which represents a significant amount of lost ticket revenue.
USA:
The Sphere, Las Vegas
Out of the blue, the US has emerged alongside the UK as the leading contender to host this fight.
In terms of venues, there aren’t many in the United States as spectacular as The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Opened in late 2023, it has yet to host a boxing event. However, it did stage UFC 306 in September 2024, less than a year after opening.
It was touted as the venue for a rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, but that now appears likely to take place elsewhere. As a result, Fury vs Joshua could be seen as the perfect fight to make its boxing debut.
At maximum capacity, it can hold around 20,000 people for combat sports events. If the fight were to take place there, it would primarily be for the production value rather than ticket sales, although selling out the venue would be a formality.
It’s an intriguing option and, at this stage, you’d probably have to say it’s the frontrunner if the fight ends up taking place in the US.
Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas
Home of the Las Vegas Raiders, Allegiant Stadium is the only US stadium we've selected as a potential option.
With a boxing capacity of just over 71,000, it has hosted only one major boxing event since opening in 2020, that being Terence Crawford’s outstanding victory over Canelo Alvarez in September last year.
It’s the biggest stadium in Las Vegas and, like the Principality Stadium, it has a roof, although it is fixed and translucent rather than retractable.
If the fight were to take place in a stadium setting in the US, it’s probably the best option available.
T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
The most iconic venue of the three US options, T-Mobile Arena has very much become the modern home of boxing in Las Vegas alongside the legendary MGM Grand.
It has hosted fights such as all three meetings between Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin, Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia, Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor and, of course, Tyson Fury’s trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder.
Like The Sphere, its capacity sits at around 20,000 and, given its long history of hosting major boxing events in Las Vegas, it’s undoubtedly the easiest option of the three.
The issue with this venue — and indeed the other two US options — is that this is a fight between two of the biggest names in British boxing potentially taking place 5,000 miles away from British shores.
Both Fury and Joshua are recognised names in America, but they are by no means stadium-filling attractions there. Ricky Hatton famously took around 35,000 British fans to Las Vegas for his clash with Floyd Mayweather, but don’t expect anywhere near that number to make the journey if Fury vs Joshua takes place there.
The UK economy is struggling at the moment and, unfortunately, many boxing fans across the British Isles simply don’t have £2,500-plus to spend travelling halfway around the world to watch a boxing match.
Fury and Joshua will ultimately go where the money is, and rightly so. They’re the fighters and they deserve every penny they earn.
So, for the sake of British boxing fans, here’s hoping the money ends up being in the UK.
