Tyson Fury will meet Deontay Wilder on December 1.
This much, we already knew. Now though, it appears we have confirmation of a venue.
According to a tweet from Mike Coppinger of Ring the fight will take place in Los Angeles’ Staples Center. An agreement was reached on Tuesday, with the arena getting the nod to host the fight ahead of Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay.
BREAKING: #WilderFury now has a site for the heavyweight championship fight on Dec. 1, sources tell @ringmagazine. The venue: Staples Center in Los Angeles. The deal was wrapped up earlier today after stiff competition from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas #boxing
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) September 25, 2018
Staples Center has hosted several high-profile boxing matches in the last 20 years, though the Wilder v Fury bout would be the biggest heavyweight fight to take place there since Lennox Lewis took on Vitali Klitschko in 2003.
The fight was arranged after WBC champion Wilder failed to reach an agreement over a unification fight with Anthony Joshua, the current WBA, IBF and WBO title holder. Speculation has claimed that the winner on December 1 could yet face Joshua in April of next year.
Joshua defeated Alexander Povetkin with a seventh round knock out at Wembley on Saturday night. Fury responded by posting a video to his social media accounts in which he claimed his chances of fighting Joshua were all but over.
“I think it’s safe to say now that not Team Joshua or Matchroom will ever fight the Gypsy King,” Fury said.
“It’s alright fighting men who are 39 years old and half your size, tonight is pure evidence that I’m fighting the best heavyweight out there in Deontay Wilder. Joshua’s not even close.
“He’s slow, methodical, ponderous at times. Powerful, yes, but they all are.
“It’s very, very clear to see: avoid me at all costs. If I was you, Joshua, I’d avoid me. I would jab your face off.”
This fight could tee up a whopper against Joshua in 2019.
