Dana White pins boxing pushback on UK figures as Fury vs Joshua nears

Dana White has pointed the finger squarely at the United Kingdom for the friction surrounding his involvement in promoting the Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua heavyweight bout, scheduled for 11 December at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

Speaking at a Dana White’s Contender Series press conference, the UFC CEO argued that boxing’s declining footprint in the United States has effectively made it a British sport — and that the loudest objections to his role are coming from that side of the Atlantic. “Boxing has taken a hit in the United States,” White said. “It’s not as big as it was here 20 years ago. It has become a very British sport. And the sht that you’re hearing, the crying and the btching and whatever, is all coming from the U.K.”

White’s involvement stems from a collaboration between himself and Turki Alalshikh’s The Ring to co-promote the fight on Netflix. His longtime rival Eddie Hearn, who manages Joshua, has publicly disputed White’s role in the event, a conflict White characterised as an “ego thing” from traditional boxing promoters uncomfortable with an outsider entering their space.

The road to the fight has been anything but smooth. Despite both Fury and Joshua signing contracts with Alalshikh and completing tune-up bouts earlier this year, the matchup remained in doubt until it was formally confirmed. A tug-of-war over the venue added to the uncertainty, with some parties lobbying for a US location to maximise global reach, while Joshua and Hearn pushed to keep the fight in Britain. Fury himself publicly expressed doubts about the bout going ahead until relatively recently.

With the Cardiff date now locked in and the promotional structure settled, attention turns to whether the behind-the-scenes tensions will spill further into the build-up — or whether White’s crossover into boxing will ultimately be judged on what happens inside the ring.