Cardiff stadium emerges as option to save Joshua vs Fury

Cardiff’s Principality Stadium has emerged as an option to salvage the long-awaited heavyweight showdown between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, with the Welsh venue reportedly willing to accommodate the broadcast demands that have stalled plans for a fight at Wembley Stadium, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The bout, one of the most anticipated in British boxing history, appeared to be in danger of collapsing again after Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, and the fighter himself insisted their contract required the fight to be staged on British soil, while attempts to move the contest to Madison Square Garden in New York met resistance.

Broadcaster Netflix is understood to want to maximise interest from an American audience, which would require a fight starting in the early hours of the morning in the United Kingdom.

While Wembley Stadium is unlikely to accommodate such timing due to strict curfew rules, Cardiff is reportedly willing to sanction a start time of around 2am.

The Welsh venue, still known to many as the Millennium Stadium, also has a retractable roof that would guard against poor weather for a proposed November date.

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Joshua’s deal for the fight has long been said to include a stipulation that it must be held in the United Kingdom, and attempts by promotional outfit Sela to force a move to New York have met significant pushback from Hearn. Hearn has suggested a renegotiation, including a higher purse to cover taxes, as an option for Joshua to consider, though both men have remained largely adamant about staging the fight on home soil.

Fury ally Spencer Brown has insisted the fight remains on, though the risk of a final collapse still looms given previous occasions when the bout has come close to being made only to fall through.

While the contract dispute continues, Joshua has returned to training at Ben Davison’s Essex gym as he awaits a resolution.

The 36-year-old officially parted ways with Davison following his defeat to Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September 2024, after which he linked up with Oleksandr Usyk’s training team in Spain, guiding the Ukrainian to victories over Jake Paul and Kristian Prenga over the past nine months.