WBO/IBF/WBA heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua has made it as clear as can be that he would fight Tyson Fury behind closed doors. Joshua, speaking with DAZN, said he doesn’t fight just for the money, that he fights for the love of the sport and that even if it cost him millions, he would agree to a fight with Fury behind closed doors – “at the drop of a hat.”
Joshua agreed it would be quite odd fighting with no massive crown in attendance, the kind of 80,000 crowds of passionate fans he is used to hearing cheers him on, but that for the sake of “history,” the Fury fight has to happen.
“If Eddie Hearn said he managed to secure the Tyson Fury fight, but it is behind closed doors, I would take it,” AJ told DAZN. “If I don’t take it now, then I don’t think Tyson Fury will be around by the time this all comes around again when big hall shows are available. I have to take the opportunity while they’re there. Economically I’m taking a big hit like the rest of the world.
“I would definitely fight for the love of my sport, and economically I’ve got that hunger in me, even if I drop five dollars or pounds, I’m turning back to get it. I’m never too big to earn a buck. One hundred percent, I would fight for $8 million less.
“When you’re fighting in front of 80,000 people, whether you like it or not, there is a massive impact on your psyche on your confidence—that urge to perform. So yes, it would be difficult to fight without the crowd. But a win is a win, and it goes down in history, and this is just part of history.”
It would indeed be history in the making of the massive Joshua-Fury fight – a super-fight that could easily sell out an 80,000 even a 90,000 seat arena – took place with barely a handful of people in attendance. But it’s great that Joshua is willing to lose money (he’d still earn a big payday of course, from the pay-per-view sales) to make this fight happen.
There would be obstacles to overcome in terms of making the fight this year: chief among them, Kubrat Pulev, who is contracted a shot at Joshua, and Deontay Wilder, who is contracted a third fight with Fury. But if this massive fight can be at all made, even if it’s behind closed doors, then we all know it would be worth it. Heck, it’s only the biggest fight in all of boxing right now, after all. Even if, should it take place in such a manner as with no live crowd, it would play out under eerily quiet conditions.
But just imagine how many P-P-V hits this fight would take, with all fight fans staying at home! Would a Fury-Joshua showdown behind closed doors hit more than four or five million worldwide pay-per-view buys?
Maybe it would.