I don’t know what the world will look like in spring 2021,” says Top Rank’s Todd DuBoef.
With the coronavirus still causing so many problems all over the world, it remains to be seen if the biggest fight in the sport – Tyson Fury Vs. Anthony Joshua – can be made next year. Will large crowds be permitted by then?
Fury-Joshua is a huge fight, and it would easily fill a stadium of 80,000, 90,000, even more. But if a limited number of fans is permitted, how much of a financial hit will the fight take?
DuBoef, speaking with Sky Sports, said the fight is “overdue,” and that there is a “gravitation to bring the titles together.”
“Let’s get it done,” he said of the fight that would be “the biggest fight in the history of the UK.”
“There is a gravitation to bring the titles together, and that would be Joshua and Fury,” DuBoef said. “Obviously we would have loved to do that before the end of this year, but for the pandemic.
I don’t think anybody is wavering from that objective. Both guys have great personalities, they can fight, and it is overdue. Let’s get it done. In order to be a massive fight, you have to have a large gate;
For example, Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao did $70 million at the gate. I don’t know what the world will look like in spring 2021. What will the economics look like? We need to see how things change. But it’s as big a fight as anything I’ve seen in the sport.”
First, Joshua must defend against Kubrat Pulev (or vacate the IBF title), and Fury has his third fight with Deontay Wilder to take care of (DuBoef says the target date is December 19, in Las Vegas).
Fury has already begun training camp for the Wilder fight, with trainer Sugar Hill Steward having arrived in the UK this past weekend. Assuming both champions take care of business, one way or another, it will be Fury-Joshua next.
But we don’t know the answer to the question of how many fans will be allowed to attend the event. There is, of course, no way a fight of this magnitude takes place behind closed doors, while Fury-Joshua going ahead with a limited live audience is also hard to picture. Just where we are seven or eight months from now?
