Saudi boxing financier backs a late-night London schedule that would place the heavyweight showdown in U.S. prime time if Wembley approves an extended curfew
Turki Alalshikh has added fresh momentum to plans for Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua after publicly backing a 2 a.m. finish at Wembley Stadium. His brief social media post arrived minutes after reports that organizers are seeking to extend the stadium’s curfew to maximize the fight’s U.S. television audience.
Minutes after Sky Sports reported that Wembley would need to lift its 11 p.m. curfew to host the fight, Alalshikh reposted the story with a brief but telling message:
“2 am 🥊”
The post suggests Turki is prepared to push for an unprecedented late-night schedule to maximize the fight’s international television audience.
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger explained why the timing makes business sense.
“That would give U.S. audience 9 pm ring walk in NY and 6 pm in UK for Fury-Joshua, two names recognizable to American fans. Fury has fought stateside many times while AJ coming off Netflix KO of Jake Paul.”
A 1 a.m. ring walk in London would place the main event squarely in American prime time, with a 9 p.m. ET start in New York and 6 p.m. PT on the West Coast. Those are ideal viewing hours for the U.S. pay-per-view market and significantly more attractive than an early evening U.S. broadcast if the fight followed a traditional UK schedule.
British fans would almost certainly face a late journey home, with the event not ending until around 2 a.m. or later. However, from a commercial standpoint, the schedule would allow organizers to capitalize on the larger U.S. television audience while still staging the fight at Wembley.
The timing also reflects Fury and Joshua’s appeal in America. Fury has fought multiple times in Las Vegas and built his U.S. profile through his trilogy with Deontay Wilder, while Joshua’s recent knockout of Jake Paul on Netflix introduced him to millions of casual American viewers.
No deal has been finalized, and Wembley would still need approval to extend its curfew. But Turki’s latest social media post is the clearest indication yet that a middle-of-the-night start in London is very much under consideration if it means putting Fury vs. Joshua in the heart of U.S. prime time.