The highly-anticipated fight looks set to be heading to Cardiff in December
The proposed fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury has left Cardiff facing up to the prospect of its busiest night in years, with hotel rooms in the capital already scarce.
Fury and Joshua are poised to finally collide after years of speculation, with a December 11 slot in the Welsh capital mooted.
An announcement is expected this week, with Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn seemingly standing firm on their contractual right to stage the bout on British soil amid a proposed move to New York.
Conversations between both the camps of both fighters, Saudi Arabian organisers Sela, and broadcaster Netflix are still reportedly ongoing, but Cardiff looks to be where this long-running saga will be settled.
However, the decision to host the fight in the middle of December is likely to pose a significant challenge to many services and business in the city, particularly in the hospitality sector, which will already be planning for one of the busiest times of year in the run-up to Christmas.
Planning could be further complicated by suggestions the fight could also be staged beyond the Principality’s stadium’s current 1am curfew, with organisers believed to be keen on satisfying television audiences in the United States.
However, Cardiff City Council has insisted there hasn’t yet been any bid to extend the curfew, with any application such needing 28 days to clear.
Given the fight is likely to be announced before then, it seems likely the timings will be in line with previous fights at the stadium.
Broadcaster Netflix were believed to be keen on pushing for a late-night slot in order to accommodate viewers Stateside, sparking suggestions the ring walks for the main event might not happen until 2, or even 3am.
There is some precedent here. Indeed, Joe Calzaghe’s super-middleweight unification victory over Mikkel Kessler did not start until 2am local time in a bid to satisfy the American television audience.
However, in a short statement to WalesOnline, Cardiff Council said: “The Principality Stadium’s current licence permits boxing events up until 1am Monday to Sunday when the roof is closed.
“There are currently no applications received by this Licensing Authority to vary the licence.”
Hearn himself has already played down the suggestions, claiming recently: “People talk about a 3am BST fight? I don’t think you’ll see the fight that late.
“But obviously there had to be conversations with the stadium about what’s possible and what is not possible.”
Whatever the time, the fight is likely to generate huge interest, with hotel rooms in the capital already scarce.
The Hilton, Parkgate and Marriott have all already sold out on the night of the fight, while the Travelodge on Cardiff Queen Street is seeing rooms approach £500.
One two-bed city centre apartment is up for grabs for as much as £2,500.
The weekend is already likely to be exceptionally busy given its proximity to Christmas, and some bars and restaurants are already facing the prospect of having to accommodate such a large event within the traditional Christmas rush.
“It’s obviously going to have an impact for us,” Lee Cleaver, general manager of Elevens Bar and Grill, told WalesOnline. “It’d be stupid to say it wouldn’t.
“But it’d be more of an impact if it was in, let’s say June, July, August instead of being December, because it’ll be busy that day anyway.
“Once you’re full, you’re full. And on those… on last Saturday at some point, even without the boxing, we would’ve been full.
“We’ve got an all-night licence anyway, so we can open at 9am in the morning and be closed at half past four the next day.
“But businesses like us are only small and we’ve a limited amount of staff. We’ve still got to get the next day on, you know, for the 12th, which is the Saturday, which will also be a busy day because it’s Christmas.
“There’s plenty of shoppers around. So that’s the biggest impact really. How we’re going to manage both days.
“There’s already Christmas parties booked in for that weekend. So once it gets confirmed, I’ll have to reach out to those parties and say, ‘Do you still want to come?’
“They may well decide not to as it’ll be hard to get a taxi and all sorts.”
Mark Falzon, who runs the iconic City Arms pub, which sits opposite the stadium, also has mixed feelings on the proposed date for the fight.
“We’d rather it be 11th of January when it’s not Christmas, but you know, beggars can’t be choosers. So yeah, it’s going to be a full on, full-on event.
“Saturday itself is a big Saturday anyway. It’s probably the biggest one of the year outside of rugby.
“We’d have probably done about £15,000 anyway. I think this will move it up to 20, 25, with the licencing as well.
“We would normally shut at 1am, but so we’ve definitely got three hours more [because we have a licence until 4].
“We’ll show the fight so people that haven’t got tickets will be able to watch it in the city centre with the atmosphere.
“But we’ve also got a booking upstairs that night and we’ll have to see whether they want to proceed now because there will be some licensing restrictions that might put people off, like plastic cups and things.
“If they get dressed up in their fineries for Christmas, they might not want that. So they might not want that booking now.”
Logistical challenges also await local police and public transport services.
Transport for Wales haven’t yet commented on possible arrangements for trains, but it’s understood they are keeping a close eye on developments and initial conversations over what may be possible are understood to have already taken place.
Great Western Railway, who run services between south Wales and London, are also likely to be part of the conversation.
There had initially been some suggestion that Wembley would be the most likely to host the fight, but given the proposed December slot, there were concerns fans would be exposed to the freezing temperatures and possible rainy conditions of the British winter weather.
Cardiff’s Principality, which has a roof covering the entire stadium, seems to have been deemed a necessary compromise, with Wembley only able to cover the seated crowd, but not the space on the ground.
Joshua has, of course, fought in the Welsh capital twice before, beating Carlos Takam in 2017 and Joseph Parker in 2018.
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