Anthony Joshua is preparing for the biggest fight of his comeback as he gets ready to face long-time rival Tyson Fury on December 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, with the heavyweight showdown streaming live on Netflix. The build-up has turned personal this week after a reigning world champion publicly questioned whether Joshua should even be fighting at all.
A Decade in the Making, Finally on the Calendar
Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have finally agreed to fight in Cardiff on December 11 following a lengthy holdup over the location of their historic all-British heavyweight clash. It's a heavyweight bout for the vacant WBA 'super' heavyweight title, fought over 12 rounds, giving the winner a claim to being a three-time heavyweight world champion.
The start time is unconfirmed as it stands but the main event is likely to take place after midnight, with promoter Eddie Hearn saying it will be earlier than 3 a.m. BST, which is 10 p.m. ET. An application submitted to Cardiff Council requests a 1 a.m. UK ring walk, which works out to roughly 8 p.m. ET for fans in the United States.
Filip Hrgovic's Blunt Verdict Reignites the Retirement Debate
Much of the conversation around Joshua this week has centered on comments from IBF heavyweight champion Filip Hrgovic, who told the Ariel Helwani Show that Joshua 'is done' and 'shouldn't be fighting anymore'.
“He is done, he shouldn't be fighting anymore, but he wants to do one more fight,” Hrgovic said, adding that Joshua is doing it for the money but that 'he shouldn't be fighting anymore.'
Hrgovic pointed specifically to Joshua's last outing as the reason for his concern, saying he 'felt sorry' for Joshua because 'he changed his coach for the 20th time,' joined forces with Usyk's team, 'did everything that he could do' and still 'goes down in 10 seconds' against a journeyman.
Joshua's Rocky Road Back to a Super-Fight
From a Wembley Knockout to Two Rebuilding Wins
Joshua's path to this fight has not been smooth. He was stopped in brutal fashion by fellow Briton Daniel Dubois while challenging for the IBF title in 2024, a defeat that pushed him to overhaul his camp. He has since fought twice under Team Usyk, scoring a knockout win over Jake Paul and a second-round stoppage of Kristian Prenga in July, though he was twice dropped by the previously unknown Prenga before closing the show — the uneven performance that fueled Hrgovic's doubts.
A New Corner, and an Old Rival Calls It 'Weak'
Ahead of the Fury fight, Joshua has made a notable change in his corner. Anthony Joshua is preparing for his long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury and will have Ben Davison by his side after reuniting with his former trainer. The move is unusual because Davison trained Fury for five professional bouts after his 2018 comeback, including the iconic draw with Deontay Wilder, before later working with Joshua through a run that ended with the damaging 2024 IBF title loss to Dubois that pushed Joshua toward Team Usyk.
Fury did not take the reunion lightly. Fury told Boxing News, 'It's the same Ben Davison he left because he wasn't good enough one fight ago... He left Ben Davison for a reason now he's gone back begging him to train him. Mentally weak is what I see', and Davison will for the first time in a fight be in the opposite corner to Fury, who has branded him a 'traitor'. Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis has publicly backed the hire, and Joshua has also been taking advice from Fury's uncle, Peter Fury, who previously guided his nephew to victory over Wladimir Klitschko.
What's at Stake in Cardiff
Tickets, the Stage and Fight-Night Logistics
Tickets for the roughly 80,000 seats sold out in under an hour, while primary ticket prices ranged from £88.50 to £13,128, underlining the scale of a bout that organizers are calling the biggest in British boxing history. Fury enters the ring with a record of 36 wins, two losses and a draw, 25 by knockout, while Joshua is 30-4 with 27 knockouts, setting up a clash between two fighters who have each held multiple heavyweight world titles but have never previously shared a ring.
The fight slots into a crowded fall and winter sports calendar in the United States, where fans are also tracking the NFL playoff push and the opening weeks of the NBA season. For boxing fans specifically, Fury-Joshua represents the long-awaited payoff of a rivalry that dates back more than a decade, one that will finally be settled inside Principality Stadium rather than in press conferences and social-media jabs.
Whatever happens on December 11, the buildup has already reframed Joshua's narrative. A fight once billed purely as a grudge match between British icons has become, at least for now, a referendum on whether the 36-year-old former two-time champion still belongs among the sport's elite — or whether, as Hrgovic argued, his best nights are behind him.