Anthony Joshua's fight with Tyson Fury will start at 1am at the earliest, Eddie Hearn has confirmed. The blockbuster bout was officially announced on Thursday, with Turki Al-Sheikh confirming that the fight will take place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Friday, December 11.
Venue and start time confirmed
Extensive talks had taken place over the location of the fight, with Saudi Arabia and New York's Madison Square Garden targeted as potential venues. An agreement has now been reached for the fight to be held in Wales, but Hearn has revealed that a compromise has been made with Netflix keen to cater the start time for the American audience.
A precedent for this was set nearly 20 years ago as Joe Calzaghe's fight with Mikkel Kessler at the Principality Stadium in 2007 took place in the early hours of the morning.
Hearn on timing and tickets
In an interview with Matchroom on Thursday, Hearn revealed that Joshua's fight with Fury could start as late as 2am in the UK and said that ticket details will be announced next week.
'I think similar times to [Joe] Calzaghe, to be honest with you,' Hearn said when asked about the fight's start time. 'I think that's going to be decided by Netflix and Turki Al-Sheikh, it's my understanding it will be around 1am, 1.30am, but again, if it creeps to 2am, I don't know.
'Friday night, perfect for people to get down there, travel after work, it's quite unique because on a Saturday boxing would start around 4pm, 5pm, so you're really looking at the boxing starting at 8pm or 9pm.
'It gives everyone a chance to get there, obviously it's going to be the hottest ticket in British sport and details will be announced soon.'
When asked about the release date for tickets, Hearn replied: 'Stay tuned. Press conference will be next week, middle of next week, and everything will be revealed.'
