Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has welcomed the idea of hosting Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury’s heavyweight clash in London at Wembley Stadium.
It had been thought that Wembley was off-limits for the fight because of the restrictions in place in the United Kingdom due to the coronavirus pandemic. Still, a dramatic fall in cases along with the initial success of the country’s vaccination program has led to a suggestion that a fight could indeed be staged in London. Other locations in contention are believed to be Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, China, and the United States, amongst others, with several states able to offer huge site fees to the promoters. This could see a payday of £100 million for each boxer. Hearn suggested recently that Wembley might now be a viable option, and Khan has told SNTV that he is keen to see the fight at Wembley.
“Eddie Hearn can do anything. I mean, this guy is amazing," Khan said. "I call Eddie a friend. I’m a fan of his. The fact that he pulled off Joshua vs. Klitschko, 90,000, was impressive. We worked closely with him. I’m keen to see Joshua vs. Fury. I think it will be amazing. Wouldn’t it be great to see those two great boxers, world champions, boxing amongst their own fans? Both Tyson and Anthony will tell you how grateful they are to their fans in this country. Eddie knows how to reach me. We’ll do what we can to support Eddie. I appreciate there’s politics in boxing as well. I appreciate there’s issues around broadcasting, there’s issues around sponsorship, but if Eddie and the teams want to have the fight in London, we’re ready.”
Hearn told DAZN’s Ak & Barak this week that both Fury and Joshua would be offered a choice of venues this week.