Showtime officially announced on Thursday that the Staples Center in Los Angeles will host the WBC heavyweight world title fight between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury on December 1.
The bout between the 32-year-old American champion Wilder and Briton Fury, 30, was confirmed last weekend and the venue has now been named with the Staples Center, home of NBA sides the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers, getting the nod.
On hearing the fight venue being confirmed, Fury sent out a series of tweets, including: "I will beat this hyped up Bum. When he fights a real fighting man we see how much power he got!" He also vowed to knock Wilder out, staying he'd "never fought a puncher like me. That I promise".
The arena's attendance record is 20,820 for the fight between Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley in January 2009.
The promotional tour for the Wilder-Fury fight gets under way in London on October 1.
“I can’t wait to fight Tyson Fury in the biggest fight in the heavyweight division and all of boxing,” said Wilder.
“I have tremendous respect for Fury for agreeing to leave England and come to the U.S. to challenge me. I’m the WBC champion, he’s the lineal champion, and the winner of this fight will show the world who is ‘The Man’ in the heavyweight division. As much as I respect Fury, I fear no man and fully intend to knock him out like every man that I’ve ever faced in the ring.”
It will be only the third bout of Fury's comeback - after defeating Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta - following a two-and-a-half-year absence.
Wilder will have held the WBC title for almost four years when he meets Fury, with both fighters boasting undefeated records.
Anthony Joshua holds the division's three other belts and retained his WBA, IBO, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles with a seventh-round stoppage of mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin last weekend.
