Ex-heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua came first face-to-face in London at Tuesday's opening press conference ahead of their Dec. 11th fight in Cardiff, Wales. In attendance at the press conference was Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, who is effectively financing the fight. According to the Netflix press release, "Alalshikh’s The Ring and Dana White will collaborate to promote the event." [But White was not in attendance at the press conference, as his right to participate in the promotion of the fight was disputed by Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua.
“Two of the best heavyweights of this generation, finally in the ring together,” said Alalshikh. “This will be one of the biggest fights in boxing history.” Fury vs. Joshua will take place at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.The undercard will be announced at a later date.
Fury (36-2-1, 25 KOs) and Joshua (30-4, 27 KOs) have both previously headlined live boxing events on Netflix, who will broadcast this fight. Joshua knocked out Jake Paul in December 2025, while Fury defeated Arslanbek Makhmudov by unanimous decision in April 2026. Now, the former heavyweight champions will meet in one of the biggest all-British heavyweight fights in recent history. “Fury vs. Joshua is a fight years in the making between two of boxing’s biggest stars,” Gabe Spitzer, vice president of sports at Netflix, said. “It has the rivalry, the stakes and the scale to capture the attention of sports fans around the world.”
“There’s strategy and then there’s passion,” Joshua said at the joint press conference. 30. “I just gotta be there from the first to the last minute. Just be well-conditioned, 15-round fit, like the old-school fighters, and do it the old-school way. I’ll be a great dance partner for him. It’s spirit versus spirit. It’s man versus man, and the best man will win.”
“I’m going to come out and I’m going to box him out of there,” Fury said at the press conference. “It will be a gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the best man’s going to win because I ain’t going to run away. I’m going to throw down. And from what I’m seeing, I’m going to catch him. And when I do, it’s going to be curtains.”
“I feel fresh. I feel very excited about this opportunity to work again,” Joshua said, also emphasizing the importance this fight holds in the UK. “It’s breathtaking, and I’m not saying that lightly. I know in pubs, people have had proper fights about who’s going to win out of me and Tyson. I know family members fell out with each other about who’s going to win. We’re going to inspire the next generation.”
Joshua’s optimistic energy wasn’t deterred by trash talk, and he welcomed Fury’s bold knockout prediction. “Beautiful. We love it. This is the energy we want. This is the fight.” He added, “This is what’s going to make me do extra rounds in the gym, because I want to perform and for everyone that’s coming out to support me — to live up to the expectations they have of me.”
Fury has been knocked down, but he has never lost a fight by knockout. Asked if he can be the man to keep Fury down, Joshua said, “Only God can answer that, but I’m willing to take and take punch after punch and keep moving forward until my hand is raised.” Fury reiterated that the matchup has been a long time coming. “I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’s been 10 years in the making. The rise has been phenomenal from both fighters. We’ve both had our ups and downs. Finally, we arrive at this moment.” He added, “It’s the icing on the cake of two great careers, to throw down in front of 80,000 people — and may the best man win.”
Despite the trash talk, Fury also had praise for Joshua. “He’s been a role model and a poster boy for British boxing for years. I mostly find myself defending my archrival to fans I meet in the street.”
Fury doesn’t shy away from the magnitude of the fight. “As a boxing fan, this is one I would want to see more than any other fight in the world today. There isn’t a fight out there that can come close to the excitement. When I fight AJ, that’ll be the most important fight in my life.”
At their Sept. 30th press conference, the two spoke about sparring together years ago, back when Joshua was still an amateur. “I’ve sparred a lot of amateur boxers in my time and I’ve been very complimentary to every single one of them. But AJ was in that ring. He knows what happened,” Fury said.
Joshua said that after their session, Fury “left the room with a black eye.” He added, “I didn't take much away from it because sparring is sparring. He knows that. Sparring stories are supposed to be kept in the gym, but the most important thing everyone knows is the fight that's going to happen December 11th.”
