Boxing World Doubts HE Turki Alalshikh as He Plans to Do the Unthinkable With Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois

Many saw this coming and now it’s for real! Former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will lock horns with Daniel Dubois at the Wembley Stadium, England on September 21st for the IBF heavyweight title. The fight announcement came hand in hand with Oleksandr Usyk relinquishing the title because of his December showdown with Tyson Fury.

Nevertheless, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh seems to have big plans for the all-British clash in London. What are the plans? Well, Eddie Hearn revealed HE Alalshikh is pushing for the absolute maximum capacity at the Wembley Stadium, expecting 100K people to be in attendance. This seems to have sent fans into a frenzy, as they speculate if that’s even possible.

Joshua vs Dubois: Breaking Records at Wembley Stadium

Earlier today, talkSport editor Michael Benson hopped on X to write, “Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois could break the British boxing attendance record with a historic crowd of 100,000 at Wembley Stadium on Sept 21st as His Excellency Turki Alalshikh is pushing for the absolute maximum capacity, Eddie Hearn has revealed”.

Interestingly, the biggest crowd ever gathered for a boxing match was in Mexico when Julio Cesar Chavez successfully defended his WBC super lightweight title against Greg Haugen, with 132,247 fans in attendance at the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico on February 20th, 1993. And as for the biggest crowd-puller in Great Britain, that record is currently held by Tyson Fury.

Fury’s fight against Dillian Whyte at Wembley saw the biggest crowd gather for a boxing match in British history, with approximately 94,000 fans at the Stadium on April 2022. So, when fans learned about Alalshikh’s plan to break that record, let’s just say, some were skeptical!

Fans don’t think the bout can pull such a huge crowd

No doubt, Anthony Joshua has quite the pull in England, but the prevailing sentiment among fans seems to be that Daniel Dubois isn’t a big enough challenge for Joshua to break the record. One user expressed their doubt, claiming Dubois isn’t a household name in the UK. But the user speculated that if and when AJ and Fury fight, that will definitely break the record. As for this fight, the user thinks it might not even cross the 90 mark.

One boxing fan pointed out that if Joshua vs. Dubois could draw 100,000 attendees, the numbers for a Joshua vs. Fury fight could be significantly higher. If that fight happens, it would be the biggest attraction in the UK since Carl Froch vs George Groves in November 2013.

Another skeptical user suggested the Joshua-Dubois fight might not even cross the 70K mark. However, Dubois is coming off two spectacular victories, and he performed well against Usyk, so the fight has the potential to do big numbers.

One boxing admirer suggested that if the organizers made it feasible for 100,000 people to attend the fight, then meeting that number was possible. Given the kind of buzz HE Turki Alalshikh has created for recent fights in Saudi Arabia, he could potentially achieve this goal as well.

This user echoed similar sentiments, suggesting if Eddie Hearn doesn’t go bonkers with ticket pricing, the stadium would be sold out. For the Fury-Whyte fight, the minimum ticket price was £55 (without booking fees), so if the prices for Joshua-Dubois fall on the same lines, 100K might be possible.

With that said, people don’t seem to have faith in His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s plans for the Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois fight. However, such sentiments tend to change as the fight night draws closer, and if Dubois and Joshua could spice things up, it’s not that far-fetched. What do you think? Can they sell 100K tickets?