Anthony Joshua has willingly sacrificed at least £10 million from his purse to bring his long-awaited heavyweight showdown with Tyson Fury to British soil. The revelation comes from the 36-year-old's promoter Eddie Hearn, who detailed the substantial financial implications of staging the bout at Cardiff's Principality Stadium rather than pursuing a lucrative American venue. For Joshua, the Watford native and London 2012 Olympic gold medallist, the decision represents a personal priority trumping immediate financial gain—a rare occurrence in modern professional boxing where pay cheques typically dictate fight locations.
Initially, Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh and Netflix had planned to stage the December 11 clash at New York's Madison Square Garden to capitalise on the US market. However, mounting pressure from British fans and Joshua's own preference for a domestic contest ultimately swayed the decision. According to Hearn, Joshua faced considerable internal conflict over the choice. "People started saying, 'Please bring the fight to the UK,' and AJ started feeling that," Hearn explained, adding that Joshua would need to "turn down eight figures plus" to make the UK staging a reality. When given the final say, Joshua's response was characteristically direct: "F*** it, we'll do it in the UK."
The venue holds particular significance for Joshua's career trajectory. His third professional appearance in Wales' national stadium comes with a perfect 100 per cent winning record there. His previous Cardiff contests included a tenth-round knockout of Carlos Takam in October 2017, followed by a points victory over Joseph Parker five months later that added the WBO title to his existing WBA and IBF belts. By contrast, this will be Fury's first appearance at the Principality Stadium. Both fighters will compete for the WBA 'Super' heavyweight title, with the winner having the opportunity to become a three-time world champion. Joshua is bidding to become Britain's first three-time world champion since Lennox Lewis in 2001.
Despite the venue advantage, Joshua enters the contest with concerning recent form. He has lost three consecutive world title fights, including two defeats to Oleksandr Usyk and a brutal stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September 2024. His most recent outing in July saw him recover from two first-round knockdowns against Kristian Prenga to secure a second-round knockout victory. Nevertheless, Hearn remains confident in Joshua's destructive potential, predicting his man possesses the knockout power to end the fight inside six rounds. "I think AJ has the power to win the fight at any time by knockout," Hearn stated, emphasising that Joshua "has the heaviest hands in the division, still" and must approach the contest "fearless and very aggressive."