Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury: Date and venue as Saudi Arabia emerges as the favourite…

Saudi Arabia has emerged as the most likely location to host the highly anticipated undisputed showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. 

The world waited with bated breath with the two heavyweight champions locked in negotiations, but promoter Eddie Hearn finally announced on Monday that a £200million two-fight deal has been signed. 

Hearn also revealed that the date and location are among the finer details still to be finalised, though the bookies have now touted May as the likely fight month.  

Anthony Joshua (left) and Tyson Fury (right) have finally signed a £200m two-fight deal

Just what did Hearn reveal?

So, the news that Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have agreed a two-fight deal has been announced, but what exactly did Hearn reveal?

The Matchroom boss has been persistently positive about the negotiations throughout, repeatedly disregarding claims from Fury himself, who on several occasions denied that talks were progressing well. 

Hearn’s optimism now appears to have been justified, after he unveiled the big news. 

‘All sides have now put pen to paper on what will be the biggest fight in boxing,’ he told Sportsmail. 

‘We will now collectively look at the best site deal. We have had a lot of offers and now we will go over the details and see what works the best for this historic fight.

‘The agreement is for two fights and getting the names on contracts is a huge step. We will hopefully be in a position to confirm details on where and when in the next month.’

He added: ‘We’d like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month.

‘We’ve already had approaches from eight or nine sites. The offers have come from multiple countries in the Middle East, from Asia, Eastern Europe and America.

‘The hard part is always getting everybody to put pen to paper but this was a major effort from all parties to get this over the line.’

Where will Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury be held? 

With the fight now agreed, boxing fans across the world will be asking just where the bout will be held. 

Of course, while the pair are both British, the prevalent coronavirus restrictions have all-but ruled the United Kingdom out of the running. 

And in fact, both camps have received mouthwatering offers in abundance from the likes of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, USA and Australia, as Hearn referenced. 

But what do the odds say?

As you can see, it’s Saudi Arabia which has emerged as the bookies’ favourite to host the mega-fight. 

Though initially raising some eyebrows, Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz 2, which was held in Saudi Arabia, went down as an undeniable success. 

Hearn admitted at the time that money played its role in the location, and you can imagine it would be a significant factor once more. 

While Joshua’s rematch with Ruiz was held in the purpose-built 15,000 capacity Diriyah Arena, it’s the KASC Sports Hall that has emerged as the most likely venue this time round. 

The stadium, nicknamed ‘The Shining Jewel’ is Saudi Arabia’s newest of its kind and can seat 60,000 fans. 

Aside from the KASC Sports Hall, other candidates include the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Madison Square Garden – where Joshua first lost to Ruiz – and The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.      

When will Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury take place?

Another question on the lips of fight fans worldwide is just when the fight will happen. 

As stated, Hearn revealed the date – similarly to the location – is yet to be finalised, though he insisted he hopes the deal to be completed in full within the next month. 

Late June or early July have been the most prominently considered dates for the highly anticipated bout, with Fury’s American promoter Bob Arum echoing those sentiments. 

In a recent interview with Boxing Scene, he said: ‘(The earliest would be) end of June, beginning of July. 

‘But, again, I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know what the medical experts are saying.’

However, contrary to what Arum said, the bookies believe the fight may actually occur sooner than first expected, with May the favourite month. 

Below are the odds in full: 

• May: 50/1
• June: 6/4
• July: 5/4
• August: 6/1
• September: 10/1
• October: 20/1
• November: 40/1
• December: 50/1
• 2022: 10/1

What does the deal look like?  

Negotiations between two rival camps can become the real sticking point when it comes to making a super-fight, with many historic bouts taking years to finally come to fruition. 

Joshua and Fury have both spoken openly about wanting the fight, but complications always remain, such as who will be the ‘A’ side, and who will walk to the ring first. 

While some finer details remain unknown, what we do know is that the first fight will be for an even 50-50, with the winner than getting a 60-40 split for the second bout. 

Both fighters are set to receive an astonishing £100million, with the deal eclipsing that of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao’s historic fight in 2015. 

What have Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury said?

Tyson Fury just last week claimed he had stopped training and posed with a bottle of whisky 

It’s certainly Fury who has been the more vocal of the two in recent weeks. 

The Gypsy King has recently claimed that he has stopped training and is currently drinking 12 pints of lager a day. 

Speaking to iFLTV last week, Fury said: ‘I’ve stopped training now, I’m on holiday, I’m doing anywhere between, eight, 10, 12 pints of lager a day at the minute. Not eating though so I’m getting my calories through alcohol.

‘There’s nothing to do, is there? I’ve done training, training, training with no further process. It’s one of those things, at the minute I’m just chilling out, being a man of leisure in lockdown.’

The WBC champion also told MTK Global live via talkSPORT: ‘I could drink 14 pints of beer and still give AJ a hiding, no problem.

‘I’m looking for a challenge, I’ve been looking, searching the world for 13 years as a professional to find a man who can better me. I just can’t find him.

Fury, at the time, had added: ‘I’m not training anymore. Until I get a date, then I go back into training camp.

‘I only need six, seven weeks anyway for these bums and that’s it.’ 

Anthony Joshua has stayed in pristine condition since his knockout win over Kubrat Pulev

Though undoubtedly less vocal than his British counterpart, Joshua has also had some fierce words to say in recent weeks. 

Speaking to JD Sports’ Road To Undisputed, Joshua said: ‘He (Fury) can bring whatever he wants, it doesn’t matter to me.

‘The press conference antics, the fight antics, the hands behind the back, I love that stuff, that’s all part of it, you know that’s his job, but my job is to close the show.

‘He’s a warm-up act [with his antics], he’s there to do all that stuff but ultimately my job is to close the show and that’s all that matters.

‘For him, he said that after he fights me, maybe he fights [Derek] Chisora, then he’s ready to go off into the sunset.

‘For me, I’ve still got so much more I want to do in this boxing game, the road to undisputed (champion) is part of the journey, it’s not the end to the journey.

‘That’s why I know I will get past this fight because I’m looking past him, I want more, this isn’t where this stops.’

Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury: The records 

While both camps continue to hash out the final negotiations, those more on the periphery can continue to discuss just who will come out on top in the mega-fight. 

After Joshua’s shock defeat to Ruiz, it’s Fury who comes into the fight as the favourite, particularly following his stunning knockout win over Deontay Wilder. 

However, as the old saying goes, styles make fights, and with Joshua’s knockout ratio, combined with the technical skills he exhibited in both his rematch with Ruiz and his vicious win over Pulev, he could cause Fury all sorts of problem. 

Put simply, this really is a 50-50, and with Hearn’s latest announcement, the fight is now one step closer.