Fury v. Joshua bout date finalized
The long awaited heavyweight unification bout between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury has an official date.
Photo by RINGO CHIU,FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images
It has been over a year since Tyson Fury(30-0-1, 21KOs) made his championship comeback against Deontay Wilder. He is now aiming to take down Anthony Joshua(24-1, 22KOs) on Aug. 14. Despite a draw in their first fight, Fury returned and defeated the American champion on Feb. 22, 2020. The minute that the British heavyweight won the WBC title, the question of unification arose. British fighters held all the belts in the division, and whoever won the fight would be the first British undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in late 1999.
The organization of the fight was met with an unprecedented amount of hardship. The biggest issue has been the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic led to problems in finding a venue and securing satisfactory contracts for the two fighters, as the lack of audiences would undoubtedly cut into the amount of money made from the super-fight. However, these difficulties have been overcome, and contracts are on their way to be signed as the date and location have been finalized.
"I just got off the phone with Prince Khalid of Saudi Arabia," Fury said in a video posted on Twitter on Sunday morning. "He told me this fight is 100% on Aug. 14, 2021 … All eyes on the world will be on the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And I cannot wait, repeat, cannot wait, to smash Anthony Joshua on the biggest stage of all time. This fight is going to be the biggest sporting event ever to grace the planet Earth."
As reported by ESPN, the site fee is a record-breaking $155 million with a whopping $75 million for each fighter and $5 million for the undercard. This site fee has blown the previous record of $60 million, which was Joshua's rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr. in Dec. 2019.
Though Fury may just be overselling this event a tiny bit, it is exciting news if for nothing else than just to have the fight planning progress past talk. With an agreed-upon date and location, it appears that this fight is closer to fruition than ever, and it is without a doubt going to be the fight of the year when it does happen.