Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has said that Tottenham Hotspur’s new home stadium would be “perfect” for hosting a future fight involving Anthony Joshua.
Tottenham’s 62,000-seat stadium held its second test event on Saturday and the ground is all set to stage its first Premier League match on Wednesday night when Spurs host Crystal Palace.
The stadium has already been pencilled in to host its first NFL American football games later this year, having been fitted with a retractable synthetic turf pitch. Hearn has now talked up the stadium as a potential host of high-profile boxing matches in the future.
Hearn’s father Barry held his first boxing promotion at Tottenham’s old White Hart Lane ground in 1987, when Frank Bruno beat Joe Bugner.
“I’d love to emulate the old man and put on a fight at the new Spurs ground,” Hearn told the London Evening Standard newspaper. “The big stadium shows are quite rare but you’re always looking out for places. And Joshua had outgrown the indoor arenas here.
“Tottenham’s new stadium looks magnificent. It’s ultra-modern and state-of-the art. I don’t know what Spurs’ plans are but it could be another option among several in London. With no roof you’d be limited to dates between April and September. But it looks perfect. It’s got to be on the radar for future big boxing events.”
Joshua, a world heavyweight champion, has previously fought in front of sell-out crowds at London’s Wembley Stadium and Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. His next fight will be against Jarrell Miller at New York’s Madison Square Garden on June 1.
Hearn said that Emirates Stadium, home of Tottenham’s arch rival Arsenal, had been considered for a fight last year but a deal was unable to be reached.
“At Wembley you only get one crack a year because it’s so busy there,” he added. “We planned for a Joshua fight there (Wembley) in April this year (but it) didn’t work out. My dad knows the Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy, very well. So in the future who knows what we could do?”
Image: Tottenham Hotspur
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