The highly-anticipated bout between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua could be set for a 1am start time at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, in December.
That’s after Cardiff Council received an application stating the ring walks are planned to start gone midnight, with proposals for the stadium to stay open until 3.30am.
According to the BBC, Millennium Stadium Plc has applied to change its premises licence to allow the fight to take place late ‘on a very limited one-off occasion’.
Fury has suggested he will try to persuade United States president Donald Trump to join him for his ringwalk. ‘I’ll definitely make that offer to my old buddy, old pal, and we’ll see if he’s available. Probably unlikely because of the situation he’s in at the moment, being the President of the United States.’
There is also a request to play live music until 3am on the same date, with a live performance expected before the ring walks.
It is proposed that the stadium roof is closed for the duration of the event, with enhanced security in place.
Other authorities and members of the public can make an objection until November 3, and a council hearing will be held to consider them. It is understood the permission will be granted if there are no objections.
There is a proposal for the ring walks for Tyson Fury (left) vs Anthony Joshua (right) to take place at 1am
There was initially doubt over whether the fight would take place in the United Kingdom or New York City.
It is understood Eddie Hearn pushed hard for the fight to be in Cardiff, with broadcaster Netflix keen to host it later so it can be shown at a reasonable time in the States.
Fury is currently favourite to take victory in the bout, with the Gypsy King claiming he has battled back from 28st – as heavy as an adult mountain gorilla – to chisel down to the shape he’s in today.
Fury’s physique has fluctuated heavily down the years – in January he described himself as a ‘fat, binge-drinking junk-food addict’ as he returned from retirement for a fifth time – but he is not messing around on this occasion.
Each fighter will pocket £75million from the face-off. As Daily Mail Sport revealed in September, the two fighters would have been taxed around 30 per cent of their purses in America, compared to 20 per cent in the UK, with Joshua particularly unhappy about the prospect of an extra £7.5million being added to his bill.
The two-time world champion instead demanded that his contract be honoured, which stipulated a British-based fight.
Hearn initially pushed for Wembley Stadium, but the combination of a roof over the Principality Stadium and the Welsh government’s willingness to bend their late-night curfew swung the fight towards Cardiff.
