West Ham’s London Stadium misses out to Tottenham for Anthony Joshua fight

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West Ham United’s London Stadium missed out on hosting Anthony Joshua’s title fight to rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

As West Ham fans know well their home ground is a multi-use facility which often hosts concerts as well as baseball, rugby and athletics.

And the possibility of hosting huge heavyweight title fight at the London Stadium was on the cards for June.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn revealed the London Stadium was in the running back in January.

Joshua set for heavyweight title defence

West Ham has proud links to boxing dating back generations.

Joshua and Matchroom boss Hearn have been in talks with securing a London venue for June key to their plans.

Speaking to Sky Sports News Hearn said he had enquired about hosting Joshua’s next fight at – amongst others – West Ham’s London Stadium.

Hearn considered London Stadium for big fight

“For me, and more importantly the boss – AJ, he wants it in the UK. It’s time to come home,” Hearn told Sky Sports News.

“AJ is going to call the shots here and he may have to let the Pulev fight go if he won’t fight in the places we’d like him to fight. And that is in the UK.

“We’re looking at the dates at the end of May to the beginning of June for the Pulev fight. Everywhere is in play, (Arsenal’s) Emirates Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur, The Olympic Stadium and we’ve also reached out to Twickenham as well and the Millenium Stadium has got some dates for us.

“In an ideal world AJ’s next fight will be Kubrat Pulev, in London.”

West Ham stadium misses out to Tottenham

But West Ham’s London Stadium has missed out to Tottenham Hotspur’s impressive new ground.

It was announced on Monday that Joshua will fight Pulev in north London on June 20 (Sky Sports).

It’s a shame for West Ham season ticket holders who usually get priority for events staged at the stadium.

West Ham’s ties to boxing are deep-rooted.

The famous West Ham Boys Boxing Club sports the football club’s old crest and has produced many champions over the years.

Frank Bruno, Lennox Lewis and Kevin Mitchell are all Hammers fans too.

West Ham’s beloved former home at Upton Park hosted boxing events. That included an infamous bout between David Haye and Dereck Chisora as well as the Hammer Mitchell.