Boxing
Fury-'AJ' in New York: Why is it good and bad for British boxing?
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British boxing breathed a sigh of frustration on Monday after a report from Boxing Scene reported that the long-awaited heavyweight grudge match between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will not take place in the UK.
Instead, the report listed New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden as the leader in the race to stage the contest.
The debate surrounding the venue has raged on for weeks, and it looked all but certain that London’s Wembley Stadium would be staging the contest.
However, due to a start time in the early hours desired by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh and little to no movement from the local authorities to make this happen, it appears no longer feasible for Fury-Joshua to take place on British shores.
To the British audience, which this fight is primarily for, it is a kick in the teeth, but there are some benefits to this bout moving Stateside, albeit for more selfish reasons when it comes to the fighters and those set to make significant amounts of money from it.
How Fury vs. Joshua benefits from not being in the UK
The motivation behind having Fury and Joshua fight at Madison Square Garden is more personal and money-driven than giving the British fans a battle they have been craving for many years.
There is often a lot more money on offer when it comes to staging heavyweight matchups in the US, that’s just the way it works.
The Garden holds significantly less people than Wembley Stadium, so the tickets can be charged at an extreme premium and therefore adding an extra bump to Fury and Joshua’s earnings through the gate receipts.
While this will deter a significant number of British fight fans from making the trip, a sizeable contingent will travel just to say ‘They were there’ when Fury and Joshua finally fought.
The later start time, which is rumoured to be 2am in the UK, is being influenced by the broadcaster Netflix, who want to try and get as big a global audience as possible.
Already they have proven to draw in millions with previous fights staged on their platform, including Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua and most recently Tyson Fury vs. Arslanbek Makhmudov.
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A fight such as Fury vs. Joshua deserves to have as big an audience as possible, but with the start time not being friendly for the UK, there is a chance Netflix may have missed a trick when it comes to the audience they wish to capture.
Step back from the financial reasoning, and there is a bit of legacy that can be attached to Fury vs. Joshua landing Stateside.
Madison Square Garden is an arena synonymous with big-time boxing, and it has its fair share of iconic heavyweight matchups. The Fight of the Century between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali immediately comes to mind.
If Fury and Joshua can produce an entertaining affair inside the Garden’s hallowed walls, then it will go down fondly in the memories of boxing fans, and the disagreements regarding start times and will all be forgotten.
There is also a chance of this fight reigniting heavyweight interest in America.
The division is in a weak place, and perhaps the fight being accessible on a platform like Netflix could inspire the next generation of American heavyweights to lace up the gloves and bring boxing’s richest prize to a country which dominated the blue-ribbon division for so long.
Why Fury vs. Joshua in America is a bad idea
I have been fortunate enough to attend a big Anthony Joshua fight night, and that was for arguably his greatest performance nine years ago when he stopped Wladimir Klitschko in front of a packed Wembley.
The atmosphere that night was off the scale, and you cannot help but think what it would be like if Fury and Joshua, two popular fighters, were to meet in front of close to 100,000 Brits.
Wembley Stadium has fast become the British home for big-time heavyweight boxing, and if this iconic sporting arena were to lose the this contest, it would be a real shame as the fans would turn out in their droves despite both Fury and Joshua being past their best.
This also means that really, the biggest audience for this fight is in the UK. The common consensus coming out of the States is that American fight fans are not too bothered.
If Fury-Joshua does end up taking place in New York, it will be intriguing to see how much of the crowd will be American. A number of British fans will travel, but The Big Apple is not a cheap trip, and the costs will put off many.
Finally, a US-based Fury-Joshua fight would be one which will be seen as an insult to the many thousands who have invested themselves in supporting two of Britain’s leading heavyweights.
Regardless of when this fight would take place, it would be a just reward for a British audience which will finally get to find out who is the better heavyweight.
But while that question may get answered inside Madison Square Garden, there is something that does not feel right about two British heavyweights settling their differences anywhere besides their home nation.
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