Dana White, one of the most powerful figures in combat sport, has reaffirmed his involvement in staging the Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua mega-fight
The heavyweight superstars have nursed a rivalry for more than a decade, but only now has a fight between the pair been finalised, with the show set for December 11 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
“I think it’s a fight that people have been waiting for, for over 10 years. So to finally have it done, I’m sure boxing fans are excited,” White told Sky Sports News.
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Tyson Fury says he’s using the Anthony Joshua fight as a warm-up to take on Oleksandr Usyk. Credit: FurociTV.
The announcement for the richly anticipated mega-fight stated that Saudi financier Turki Alalshikh’s The Ring and White were staging the bout, although Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, has publicly claimed the American cannot be involved.
“Well, I think that the press release speaks for itself,” White responded. “I’ve been saying since the beginning of the talks of this fight that I was going to be involved in the promotion of it.
“I mean Eddie Hearn must spend 24 hours a day doing interviews. I’ve never seen a guy do more interviews in my life, but it’s all good.
“It’s all good for the fight and I think a lot of people have become aware of the fight by the fight not being done yet.
“You think Netflix [care] what Eddie Hearn thinks? I guarantee they do not. I mean: ‘not involved in the promotion of the fight’, I’m sitting here promoting the fight right now
“Who’s going to stop me?”
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Johnny Nelson shares his thoughts on Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua, with the fight being announced to take place in Cardiff on 11 December.
Hearn has also suggested holding the all-British clash in the UK is a victory for Joshua’s side.
“What did I lose? What have I lost? I promise you I’ve lost nothing,” White said. “I am not involved in either side of this thing. I’m involved on the Turki side.”
The Fury vs Joshua main event is expected to take place in the early hours of the morning on December 12, catering to a global audience.
After plenty of speculation that the fight could be held in the US, Wales’ Principality Stadium, which crucially has a roof, was ultimately selected as the venue.
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Sky Sports’ Andy Scott and John Dennen react to the news that Tyson Fury will fight Anthony Joshua in Cardiff on 11 December.
“There was a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff going on,” White said. “In these types of fights, especially when you have a guy who’s putting the money up being Turki Alalshikh, you go where the money is and try to create as much revenue as you can.
“The fighters are getting paid. Everybody’s got to make some money.
“So we ended up doing it in a stadium where we didn’t have to worry about timing as much. You can close the roof and the fight with two British heavyweight champions stays in the UK.”
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