Tyson Fury wants Anthony Joshua St Patrick’s Day showdown at Croke Park

Tyson Fury [25(18)-0] is currently in an intensive training camp as he looks to finally return to full fitness and get back in the ring – and he is targeting a stadium fight with WBA and IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

However, this fight does not necessarily, in his eyes, have to take place at Wembley Stadium in London.

Former Irish champion Fury is open to facing Joshua [19(19)-0] at the home of Gaelic Games, Dublin’s Croke Park stadium.

The Manchester-born 28 year old outlined his plan this evening on RTÉ 2FM’s ‘Game On.’

Describing why the fight with Watford’s Joshua appeals, Fury told host Hugh Cahill that “you’ve got the boxer against the fighter, the powerhouse versus the fleet-footed dancer. You’ve got the nice man in AJ and the most controversial man in sport in Mr Fury.”

“You’ve got the great British hope in AJ and you’ve got the great Irish heavyweight in Tyson Fury, so it makes for a great clash of styles and backgrounds.”

In terms of when the fight might take place, Fury wants to go to Headquarters.

‘The Gypsy King’ outlined how “we may be looking at next year – maybe a March, maybe a St Patrick’s Day fight at Croke Park. How about that? Nevermind Wembley Stadium.”

Of course, this is all a long way down the line, with many potentially stumbling blocks including Fury’s upcoming UKAD hearing and his long road back to fitness, as well as Joshua successfully negotiating his mooted rematch with Wladimir Klitschko – not to mention the massive undertaking of agreeing and staging a fight at Croke Park.

The Jones’ Road venue has a seating capacity of 76,000 (plus any potential seating on the pitch).

Croke Park has history for hosting heavyweight boxing, with ‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali having stopped Al Lewis in the eleventh round of a non-title bout back in 1972 – as well as regularly being the venue of Irish fight nights in the 1920s.

It’s not Fury’s first time to state his desire to fight in Croke Park either, having previously mentioned the idea after dethroning long-reigning heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 – and even as far back as 2012.

Listen to Tyson Fury’s interview on Game On in full below:

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Joe O’Neill and Gavan Casey speak to Jason Quigley on Episode 5 of The Irish Boxing Show: