"Potentially it’s like an early Christmas present for our businesses"

Bristol’s hospitality and hotel industry is hoping that transport chiefs pull out all the stops to get tens of thousands of boxing fans out of Cardiff in December, when Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua finally get into the ring for their long-awaited showdown.

The Bristol Hoteliers Association is reporting a much-welcome ‘positive impact’ in bookings for the second weekend in December, when Fury and Joshua go head-to-head at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

But the fight, scheduled for the evening of Friday, December 11, is actually due to take place in the early hours of Saturday morning, to satisfy prime time American TV audiences, which leaves transport chiefs and authorities in both Cardiff and Bristol with something of a headache.

More than 70,000 are expected to pack into the stadium, and hotels in Cardiff itself have already pretty much sold out.

So - just as they did with the sell-out Oasis stadium gigs in Cardiff in July last year - hoteliers in Bristol say they are seeing a flurry of bookings for that Friday night, but the logistics of getting from Cardiff to Bristol in the early hours could be a problem.

Transport for Wales and GWR are currently working on a plan which could see extra trains put on in the middle of the night, which might be a solution to the problem.

“Confirmation that the fight is taking place in Cardiff will only have a positive impact on hotels in Bristol, just as we experienced last year during the Oasis reunion concerts,” said the chair of the Bristol Hoteliers Association, Adam Flint.

“With many rooms in Cardiff already booked by boxing fans, we expect our hotels to benefit from overflow trade, with Bristol being within easy reach of the venue.

“Potentially it’s like an early Christmas present for our businesses, with a nice boost in trade at the end of what has been a reasonably good year for us,” he added.

“With the big boxing match also likely to result in a rise in bookings, we’re hopeful of having a pretty decent final quarter of 2026,” he added.

Authorities in Cardiff have already given the go-ahead for the normal stadium curfew, which sees usual gigs and events end at around 11pm, to be lifted to enable the event to go into the early hours.

The ringwalks for the big fight aren’t expected until at least 1am, and the stadium itself has got permission to stay open until 3.30am.

The prospect of 70,000-plus boxing fans leaving the stadium in Cardiff between 2am and 3am means a headache for transport chiefs - particularly if many of them will be wanting to get to Bristol.

“We're delighted Cardiff has been chosen to host another major global sporting event and we look forward to welcoming tens of thousands of boxing fans on board our services,” said a statement issued by both Transport for Wales and GWR together.

“TfW and GWR are working closely with the event organisers, the Principality Stadium, Cardiff Council, the British Transport Police, Network Rail and Amey Infrastructure Wales to explore a range of options, including additional capacity into Cardiff and potential travel arrangements to help customers return home during the early hours of the morning.

“We're currently working on a provisional service plan and on all the other arrangements needed to host an event of this size in Cardiff.

“Tickets for our current rail timetables are available to book via our website and app. Additional late-night services will be finalised and available to purchase by late November, with further updates provided as soon as possible,” they added.