Frank Warren expects Tyson Fury to beat Anthony Joshua the way Daniel Dubois did, and says he saw the same moments of doubt in Joshua before that fight that he sees now. Fury’s promoter made the call on The Stomping Ground ahead of the December 11 fight at Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
“Tyson just gets on with it. Doesn’t need to be reassured,” Warren said. “Tyson, when he walks to the ring, he’s confident.” Of Joshua, he said: “I’ve seen these moments of doubt.”
Warren pointed to Joshua’s 2024 loss to Dubois, which cost Joshua his IBF title. “Everybody like just skims over that fight,” he said. “I knew what was going to happen in that fight,” he added, and “this fight I feel is going to go the same way.”
He also described walking out of Wembley with Joshua after the Dubois loss and telling him not to beat himself up, because “the better man won on the night.” Warren reminded Joshua he is a two-time world champion with a “sterling career.”
Grit and the big punch
Warren said the fight comes down to who wants it the most. Both men are big punchers, he added, and the one who throws the big punch makes himself vulnerable, so if the other comes back “he might go over.”
Joshua’s recent form gives the argument some context. He was floored twice in the first round by Kristian Prenga in July before knocking him out in the second, and Warren said in August that had Fury been in there, it would have been over quickly. Former champion Duke McKenzie has said Joshua’s punch resistance is gone, and Joshua has since added former Fury trainer Ben Davison to his camp.
Fury, for his part, promised to blast Joshua out in Cardiff at the London launch press conference face-off.
No hype needed
Warren said the fight will sell out on its own and “needs zero hyping.” His measure of promotion is tickets, not views. If 200,000 people watch an interview and it does not turn into ticket sales, he said, “that ain’t promotion,” and he added that all of his shows sell out.
On Dana White’s role, Warren said he has “no problem with him being there” if Turki Alalshikh wants him working the event. “It’s not about him. It’s not about Eddie. It’s not about me,” Warren said, adding that it is about the two fighters selling tickets and delivering big numbers for Netflix. He called the noise around the edges of the fight “tedious.” BBC Sport has reported that the event is being promoted as a collaboration between Alalshikh’s The Ring and White.
The Cardiff start time
Warren dismissed concern about a late finish in Cardiff city centre. If the fight is on around 1am and fans leave around 2am, he said, most people will already have gone home, and it will not look like a football or rugby crowd spilling out.
An early-hours UK start is under consideration to suit US viewers, BBC Sport has reported, and the leader of Cardiff Council has said changes to the stadium’s premises licence are still being finalised. Eddie Hearn has said he does not expect a 3am BST start.
Warren also wished Alalshikh a full recovery, calling him “brilliant for the sport,” after Alalshikh said his health has been poor for four months. And he joked about a punch machine contest with Hearn, saying it might need adjusting so Hearn is not “beaten by a 74-year-old man.”
