Joshua vs. Fury scheduled for Cardiff in December

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will finally meet in the ring after their long-awaited heavyweight fight was confirmed for December 11, at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

The all-British contest was announced by Saudi Arabian boxing figure Turki Alalshikh, ending years of negotiations and speculation over whether the two former world champions would ever face each other.

The fight had been linked with several venues, including Wembley Stadium and Madison Square Garden, before Cardiff was selected. 

The Principality Stadium can hold around 78,000 spectators, while the expected late start in the UK is designed to give the fight a prime-time audience in the United States.

Netflix will stream the event worldwide. The streaming service confirmed the fight with the message, “Enough talk. Time to fight.”

Fury enters the fight as the former WBC heavyweight champion with a record of 36 wins, two defeats and one draw, including 25 victories by knockout. 

Joshua, a two-time unified heavyweight champion, has won 30 of his 34 professional fights, with 27 coming inside the distance.

The two men have spent years discussing a potential meeting without ever reaching the point of fighting each other. 

Negotiations have broken down on several occasions, while both fighters have continued their separate careers and traded comments over a possible contest.

That wait will now end in Cardiff. The fight comes at an important stage of both careers, with Fury and Joshua having already held world titles and positioned themselves among the leading heavyweights of their generation. 

Neither man has faced the other before as a professional, making December 11 the first opportunity to settle a rivalry that has existed largely outside the ring.

Alalshikh said the decision to stage the event in the UK fulfils a promise to British boxing fans who have waited years to see the matchup.

After more than a decade of negotiations, postponements and failed attempts to make the fight, Joshua and Fury now have a confirmed date and venue. On December 11, the two British heavyweights will finally meet in the ring.