After the chaos with promotions and contract clauses, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are confirmed to do battle inside the squared circle on December 11th in Cardiff, Wales, at the Principality Stadium.
A heavyweight title is on the line, but it's also a fight that will end a longstanding debate.
The Battle of Britain is coming; after years of collapsed negotiations, Fury and Joshua will come to battle in December on Netflix. But despite the announcement, does the fight mean anything beyond seeing who the better man is?
A fight purely about bragging rights
For years, fans have debated who the best British heavyweight boxers are: Fury or Joshua.
Fury and Joshua had been operating as the faces of British Boxing; both had reached the top of the mountain and had become Heavyweight Champion of the world.
Both had even led a resurgence in boxing in Britain; whilst Fury took a break, Joshua acted as the face of British boxing.
Then, when Fury made his comeback, you had two top British heavyweights at the top of their game, with the debate about who would win in a fight between the two, and who is the better of the two fighters.
The fight is happening on December 11th. Whilst they are both physically in great shape and can still compete at the highest level, it doesn't feel like anything more than just bragging rights — simply put, who the better man is.
Fury and Joshua have suffered defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, faced fighters who weren't a serious threat in the boxing space, and are nowhere near contention for a Heavyweight title fight.
When the bell rings on December 11th, people will be rooting for one of the two corners, and that's pretty much the theme of this fight: ending the debate about who is better between Fury and Joshua.
WBA Super title is a strange addition to the fight
Oddly enough, there is a belt on the line in this fight: the WBA Super Heavyweight title, and it is a bizarre one, which will be forgotten about as the build and anticipation grow over the coming months.
Fury vs Joshua sells itself as a fight, and the addition of a new belt is forced and just a way of pleasing two superstar boxers. Not to mention, it once again raises the question of whether boxing is a serious sport or following the path of the sports-entertainment, pro-wrestling world.
Fury vs Joshua is a fight between two top British boxers who have been key to the sport's growth and rejuvenation in the U.K., so adding a belt feels, for lack of a better word, gimmicky and forced.
