Industry News

T-Mobile Arena in pole position for Joshua-Wilder fight

Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena is set to land its latest major sporting event after being lined up to host Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight unification fight against Deontay Wilder, according to multiple reports.

Joshua is readying for a fight against Joseph Parker at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium at the end of the month. Should Joshua win he will take Parker’s WBO title.

Joshua is already eyeing a fight against Wilder, the current holder of the WBC belt. Wilder defeated Luis Ortiz on Saturday to retain the belt.

Wilder’s promoter has suggested that T-Mobile Arena is the frontrunner for a fight with Joshua. The arena has a capacity of 20,000 – far less than the 75,000-seat Principality Stadium and the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium, where Joshua has boxed before.

Wembley has also been touted as a possible venue for a Joshua-Wilder fight, but T-Mobile Arena appears to be at the front of the queue. Wilder’s promoter Lou DiBella said, according to the Daily Mail newspaper: “It could happen here in New York, there is no question it would sell out here and that we’d set a record gate for the Barclays (Center) with that fight. With that being said, it could also go to a soccer stadium in Great Britain but they can’t charge that much per ticket over there.

“So the likelihood would be probably, from an economic standpoint, because there are no expenses, because of the gambling, high-rollers and the whole bit, that Vegas would be most likely.

“Also Brits love to come to Vegas for a huge fight and make a holiday of it I think economically, the most likely venue would still be Las Vegas. Wilder was willing to go to Russia to fight Alexander Povetkin so if the money was crazy enough he’d go to Great Britain but I believe the money will be best in Las Vegas.”

T-Mobile Arena only opened in 2016 but has already established itself as a major boxing venue. It was recently confirmed that it would stage the rematch between middleweight fighters Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin in May, and last year staged the ‘superfight’ between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.

It has also hosted events from the UFC mixed martial arts promotion and serves as the home of NHL ice hockey team the Vegas Golden Knights.

Image: Tomás Del Coro