Tyson Fury's heavyweight showdown against Anthony Joshua may not go ahead after objections to the fight being staged in the early hours.
Fury and Joshua are due to clash in Cardiff on December 11 with the ring walks scheduled for 1am the following morning. Event organisers want the stadium to be open until 3.30am but their application has been met with concerns from local residents.
Licensing Decision Pending
Cardiff Council's Licensing Sub-Committee will meet on November 25 - just over two weeks before the first bell - to decide whether to grant or reject the stadium's request for an extension to its current arrangements.
One resident who voiced their concerns, said: "The Council should carefully consider whether these extended hours are necessary and whether adequate safeguards can realistically prevent additional noise, disorder and disruption during the early hours. I ask the Council to refuse the application in its current form."
Another added: "The shouting, singing, and inevitable anti-social behavior at that hour is going to completely wake the whole house up and leave us with exhausted, stressed children. I know this is a massive sporting event for the city, but letting it run into the early hours of the morning is going to cause absolute chaos for those of us living right next to it. Mixing all-night drinking with a complete lack of transport is just a recipe for trouble, and it's our residential streets that will end up paying the price for it."
US Viewing Times and Venue Push
The proposed fight timings are designed to suit peak viewing time in the United States, with Saudi Arabia's boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh, his American business partner Dana White and broadcasters Netflix having originally pushed for New York's Madison Square Garden as the venue.
Despite Cardiff being announced as the venue, required changes to its premises licence to allow the early-hours fight to go ahead have yet to be secured. In a bid to obtain the necessary permissions, Millennium Stadium plc applied to the council to extend timings at the venue "on a very limited one-off occasion".
The application seeks to extend permitted hours for boxing and wrestling entertainment from an existing cut-off of 1am to 3am on December 12. A council spokesperson said: "This is to facilitate the proposed Anthony Joshua v Tyson Fury bout, with the ring walk commencing at 0100."
