Wembley Stadium could yet be chosen as the venue for a huge fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, with the former’s co-promoter Bob Arum claiming senior figures in Saudi Arabia are open to holding the fight in London.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury is set to face Oleksandr Usyk – who holds the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring belts – in a huge unification bout in Riyadh on May 18.
That fight was pushed back from its original date of February 17 after Fury sustained a cut above his eye in a freak accident in training.
Read our other sports news stories here:
Giannis Antetokounmpo: Milwaukee Bucks concerned as two-time MVP suffers calf injury
2024 Masters: Tiger Woods set to play golf tournament after practice at Augusta
NBA: Irving and Doncic embrace ‘as brothers’ as Mavs beat Rockets
The contest is widely expected to lead to a rematch, though Joshua is waiting in the wings for a title shot, having extended his winning streak to four fights with a devastating knockout of Francis Ngannou last month.
Should Fury maintain his unbeaten record against Usyk, Arum believes a win over Joshua would represent the crowning moment in his career.
“If he beats Usyk and fights Usyk again and beats him, then does a massive fight hopefully at Wembley Stadium against Joshua, that would really put an exclamation point to his great career,” Arum told Sky Sports.
While Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has brought several high-profile bouts to the Kingdom in recent years, Arum believes it would be fitting for a Fury-Joshua fight to be held in London.
Never underestimate the ability of The Gypsy King to come back in style @Tyson_Fury pic.twitter.com/iI0A3d8pDm
— Queensberry Promotions (@Queensberry) March 31, 2024
He does not expect the PIF to stand in the way, saying: “The Saudis, with all this money, can dictate the place.
“They are also very intelligent and they would, I think, like nothing more than to do that fight at Wembley with 95,000 people where they were the promoters.
“I think that would do more for their image than doing that fight, Fury and Joshua, in Saudi. But that’s up to them. That’s what I feel from talking to them briefly about the future.”
Arum also suggested Usyk might be persuaded to forego a second meeting with Fury if the demand is there for the Gypsy King to face Joshua this year.
“There’s always a chance, when there’s one entity putting up the money, that they can have a tremendous influence on the fighters,” he added.
“Maybe if Fury is successful the Saudis can make it worthwhile to Usyk to step aside and allow a Joshua fight this year.”
I spy. pic.twitter.com/xBASRSkgGN
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyjoshua) March 9, 2024
