Joshua Rejects MSG Push For Fury Fight

Anthony Joshua wants Wembley Stadium for his fight with Tyson Fury and says the contract backs him up, even as Madison Square Garden has emerged as the preferred choice of the man financing the bout.

Joshua stopped Kristian Prenga in the second round Saturday in Jeddah, one day after Fury retired Mariusz Wach on his stool after seven rounds in Pattaya. The two heavyweights are now signed to meet in the fourth quarter with Netflix expected to broadcast, but three cities are bidding for the location: London, New York, and Las Vegas.

Hearn Says Contract Specifies UK Venue

Eddie Hearn told BoxingScene in June that the signed agreement leaves no room for interpretation. "The contract specifically states that the fight must take place in the UK," he said. Since then, sources indicate Madison Square Garden has become Turki Alalshikh's top choice, driven by Netflix's desire for a start time that captures American viewers without sacrificing the global audience. Hearn explained the broadcast calculus in remarks carried by AOL: "Netflix want the biggest audience possible, and they feel like a mid-afternoon start time in the US will jeopardise the potential to maximise the audience." He added that MSG, not Las Vegas, is the American venue pushing hardest.

Joshua was more direct after the Prenga fight. "When these conversations started, there was no other venue or location that was ever mentioned," he told reporters, per Boxing Insider. "It was simple. This is the road map. You fight, come back, fight, and then providing you're victorious, you'll be fighting Tyson Fury in the UK, basically Wembley." The complication is that any move abroad requires amending the contract, and Joshua's side would have to agree to new terms. That puts the fighter who wants Wembley in control of whether the bout leaves Britain, while the financier writing the checks prefers Manhattan.

Dana White has claimed more than once that he and Alalshikh made the fight, not Hearn or Frank Warren. Fury did not appear in the ring in Jeddah despite speculation that the fight would be formally announced there. Joshua addressed him anyway: "Where is he? There's two sides to this. Fire. And respect," he told ESPN. "I respect everything he's done. We're here now." The venue dispute is expected to resolve in the next two weeks, with the September date already locked in.

Original reporting:

• boxinginsider.com — State of the Heavyweights: Three Cities Are Fighting Over Joshua-Fury | BoxingInsider.com