Last year at the Boxing Writers’ Club dinner, I said I wanted to bring the biggest fights in world boxing to London so I’m delighted to have been able to help secure a record 90,000 capacity at Wembley Stadium for Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko on April 29.
With three world heavyweight titles on the line, boxing showdowns don’t come much bigger than this one and I think it’s fantastic our city is set to play host to the largest British crowd for a boxing match in the post-war era.
London’s football stadiums have a long history of staging some huge heavyweight bouts – from Frank Bruno’s stoppage of Joe Bugner at White Hart Lane in 1987, to my idol Muhammad Ali’s epic duels with the late London legend Sir Henry Cooper at Wembley and Highbury in the 1960s.
As the Mayor of London and a massive fight fan myself, I’m proud to help continue this tradition and I will carry on supporting efforts to bring the biggest and best contests in world boxing to our world class venues.
I want to thank Network Rail, Transport for London, and Wembley Stadium for pulling out all the stops at my request to boost stadium capacity from 80,000 to a record-breaking 90,000.
Like me, they have recognised the importance to our city of hosting this historic clash between the two best fighters in the world heavyweight division today and I’m grateful to them for putting plans in place to ensure that those attending the fight can move around our capital quickly and safely.
Sadiq Khan