Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are set to finally settle their long-running rivalry when they face each other in an all-British heavyweight bout at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on December 11.
The highly anticipated encounter, reported by BBC Sport on Thursday, comes after both fighters secured victories in their respective comeback bouts in July.
Fury, 37, recorded a seventh-round stoppage of 46-year-old Mariusz Wach in Pattaya, Thailand. The contest was held in front of about 1,500 spectators and was not televised.
Joshua, 36, also claimed victory in dramatic fashion in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, recovering from two knockdowns in the opening round before stopping Albanian heavyweight Kristian Prenga in the second.
Prenga dropped Joshua just 20 seconds into the fight, but the former world champion recovered quickly and went on to finish the contest in the following round.
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The victory marked Joshua’s first fight since he survived a car crash in Nigeria that killed his close friends Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele.
Following the win, Joshua and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, had indicated that they wanted the Fury bout staged at Wembley Stadium. However, an agreement with the Saudi organisers funding the event stipulates that the fight must take place in Britain, while moving it to the United States would require the deal to be renegotiated.
Hearn has stressed the importance of the Fury bout to Joshua’s career.
Speaking after Pat Brown’s victory over John Hedges on September 19, Hearn said Joshua’s “whole career comes down to this” fight.
“There is a desperation to win this fight and this is why sport is the greatest. I’ve never wanted to win a fight so badly,” Hearn said.
The December 11 meeting will end years of failed negotiations and speculation over a potential clash between two of Britain’s most prominent heavyweight fighters.