Bellew Questions Why Joshua vs Fury Is Headed to America

The fight British boxing has spent all of 2026 chasing — Anthony Joshua against Tyson Fury — is edging toward an announcement, and the reported venue is the sticking point. Instead of Wembley and its 90,000 seats, the leading bid appears to be Madison Square Garden in New York. Tony Bellew isn't buying the logic.

Speaking on the Fight Your Corner podcast, the WBC cruiserweight champion said he could stomach a move to Saudi Arabia — because the Saudis are footing the bill — but couldn't grasp why a domestic British showdown would land in the United States. His blunt take: nobody over there cares.

Two Records That Sell Themselves

The numbers make Bellew's point about wasted appeal. Joshua sits at 29-4 with 26 knockouts, coming off a sixth-round stoppage of Jake Paul. Fury, ranked third at heavyweight, carries a 36-2-1 record with 25 KOs, his most recent outing a seventh-round retirement win over Mariusz Wach. Between them that's over 50 stoppages and a rivalry Britain has wanted for years.

Bellew doubled down on a claim he'd made previously — that American heavyweight boxing has been flat since Evander Holyfield. He conceded he'd stretched it, but insisted the point stands for the division specifically. The American public, he argued, aren't invested in Joshua or Fury the way UK fans are, so shipping the fight across the Atlantic makes little sense to him.

The Bigger Picture

Whatever the venue, the significance is hard to overstate. For both men, at this stage of their careers, this reads like a genuine finale — the kind of fight that closes a chapter rather than opens one. That's exactly why the location argument has legs.

For now, MSG remains the frontrunner and Wembley the sentimental loser. Bellew's frustration echoes plenty of UK fans who assumed they'd get to see this one at home. If the fight does head stateside, expect that grumbling to get louder before the first bell.