Former world champion Ricky Hatton has urged the necessary parties to bring an undisputed world heavyweight title clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua to Wembley Stadium, rather than take it overseas.
Both America and the Middle East remain lucrative options for a possible mega-fight between WBC title-holder Fury and WBA Super, WBO and IBF champion Joshua, but Hatton told Sky Sports that hosting the historic event on home soil is “an absolute must” for British boxing.
“I don’t see why it can’t happen at Wembley,” said Hatton. “You need a big outdoor arena. The majority of money is made when you go boxing in the United States. The vast size of the United States, that tends to be where you earn your money, but a fight of this size, I think it needs to be in England. Two British heavyweights.
“Two men at the top of the game. A brilliant clash of styles, a brilliant clash of personalities. We’ve got to have it in the UK, for British boxing. We need this in the UK, it’s an absolute must. This fight, it can’t not happen. It’s got to go ahead, otherwise all of us will never forgive ourselves. Years ago, [in] British boxing, you couldn’t think of two British [elite] heavyweights.
“We have the two best in the division now and they’ve got to fight each other,” he continued. “When they sit around the negotiating table, everyone has just got to be sensible. A lot of fights don’t take place because of who has the lion’s share. We can’t let this fight not happen, I feel.”