Anthony Joshua has won Olympic gold, unified three heavyweight world titles and sold out some of Britain’s biggest stadiums. Yet, at 36 years old and approaching the final chapter of his illustrious career, Joshua may have just secured one of his most important victories without even stepping into a boxing ring.
After almost a decade of waiting, his showdown with Tyson Fury is finally happening. And, crucially, it’s happening at home in Britain.
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Two British fighters fighting in the U.K. — how is that a win? Surely that should’ve been the case anyway?
But it almost wasn’t.
During the summer, it seemed inevitable that Fury and Joshua would be headed stateside — more specifically to New York’s Madison Square Garden — for their heavyweight collision.
Turki Alalshikh, Dana White and Netflix — the powers that be — were pushing for the U.S. to host the fight. Even Fury and his representatives, Frank Warren’s Queensberry and Spencer Brown’s Goldstar Promotions, appeared content to let Britain lose the matchup for which it had been waiting a decade.
Anthony Joshua wasn’t letting his fight with Tyson Fury get away from the U.K.
(- via Getty Images)
It was a kick in the teeth for British boxing fans who had supported the duo for 15 years but wouldn’t get to attend the pinnacle of their careers — the culmination of a rivalry and an era that had been brewing for almost a decade.
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Two men, however, understood the importance of the fight taking place on British soil: Joshua and his promoter, Eddie Hearn.
It is largely because of them that Britain is getting this fight.
Many months ago, when the initial fight contract was being drafted, Joshua insisted on a clause stipulating that his fight with Fury had to take place in the U.K.
By the time the parties were exploring venues for the bout, that clause had almost been forgotten, and there was an understanding the fight would ultimately happen where the money in the room — Alalshikh and Netflix — wanted it to happen.
Joshua and Hearn, however, weren’t provided with that script. They put their foot down.
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Relationships were hurt, money was left on the table, and further delays ultimately followed. But Joshua refused to budge on his demand that the biggest fight in British boxing history did in fact take place in Britain.
In recent weeks, when it became apparent that Joshua was unwilling to compromise, the U.K. was finally considered as a possible location for the event.
A fighter was willing to walk away from a more lucrative option to deliver a home fight for his home fans. White could not believe it.
“Go wherever the money is,” he said.
Boxing is a sport where the biggest events often wind up at the hands of wealthy backers. Muhammad Ali fought George Foreman and Joe Frazier in Zaire and the Philippines, respectively, because that’s where the money was.
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Fifty years later, very little seems to have changed. Big fights are ending up in Saudi Arabia and ultimately where Saudi backers want them to take place. Joshua, however, showed the boxing world that this time, he would be different.
He chose to prioritize something that money couldn’t buy: the opportunity for British boxing fans to witness the biggest fight in their sport’s history on home soil.
And on Thursday morning, when Fury-Joshua was officially announced for Dec. 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, he got to be the hero.
Alalshikh and Warren will no doubt try to take some credit for the fight happening in the UK, but make no mistake, they were happy to let it slip away without much of a fuss. It was Joshua’s insistence on a UK venue and refusal to take additional money that led to this fight ending up in Cardiff.
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The significance of that decision should not be understated.
For almost a decade, British boxing fans have waited for two men who have defined an era of heavyweight boxing to finally settle their rivalry.
They watched Joshua knock out Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium. They followed Fury through his extraordinary comeback and unforgettable trilogy with Deontay Wilder. They watched both men conquer the heavyweight division and then lose their world titles, all while the prospect of them finally sharing a ring seemed to drift further and further away.
Negotiations came and went. Promises were made and broken. The fighters traded words, fought different opponents and grew older.
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And when the fight finally appeared close to becoming a reality, it seemed fans would have to travel thousands of miles to witness it in person.
For those unable to afford flights, accommodation and tickets to an event in New York or Las Vegas, the opportunity to watch Joshua and Fury settle their rivalry from inside the arena would have been little more than a dream.
Now, thanks to Joshua, tens of thousands of them will have the opportunity to witness it on their doorstep.
On Dec. 11, Principality Stadium will be filled with British boxing fans who have waited years for this moment.
When Joshua makes his ring walk, he’ll do so knowing he helped give those fans something that once seemed destined to be taken away from them: A chance to be there to witness the biggest fight in their history, not from thousands of miles away, but from inside the stadium where it happens.
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Joshua may beat Fury. He may lose. But whatever happens when the first bell rings, he has already delivered something that will outlast the result.
He brought the biggest fight in British boxing history back home where it belongs. And that is one victory nobody will ever be able to take away from Anthony Joshua.
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