‘FIVE-HOUR TAXI WAITS’
THE eyes of the sporting world turned to Cardiff on Saturday night.
The Principality Stadium hosted Anthony Joshua as he attempted to defend his WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles against Carlos Takam.
Actors Colin Farrell and Idris Elba were spotted among the estimated 78,000 people packed into the city centre venue.
It was a world record for an indoor boxing fight, eclipsing a record set by Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks in 1978.
The fight drew to a close after a controversial 10th-round stoppage in Joshua’s favour.
With his 20th knockout win under his belt and an unbeaten record conserved, 28-year-old Joshua tweeted: “Thank you for the support. I love British boxing because they appreciate the loser as much as the winner.”
After the fight finished, thousands of fans flooded into the streets of Cardiff, packing the pubs and clubs as people celebrated his win.
Plenty of people had a memorable night, with one huge group of fans launching into a chorus of what has become known as the anthem of Wales’ football fans – Don’t Take Me Home.
But it was a night of “unprecedented demand” for police.
It had been a busy day, with Cardiff taking on Millwall on Saturday afternoon and events including comedian Micky Flanagan at the Motorpoint Arena.
Clubs and pubs reached full capacity at 1am, with South Wales Police warning that there were still hundreds queuing for entry.
There had been warnings that there would be reduced train services due to pre-planned work at the Severn Tunnel. Roads in the city centre were also closed, which led to huge queues for taxis – with some reported waits of up to five hours.
Michael Lambert, who travelled from Porth in the Rhondda to watch the fight, said he and his friends queued for five hours for a taxi.
“Our trains going up the Valleys, they stopped past 11pm and we were left with no way of getting home,” Michael, 36, said.
“I joined the queue at about 11pm and by the time we got to the front at 4am the queue was still going back as far as the eye could see.”
Waste management teams from Cardiff council were out in force early yesterday morning, clearing litter left in the aftermath of the event.
Empty plastic cups and fast-food packaging could be seen littering much of the city centre, with Queen Street, St Mary Street and St John Street particularly badly hit.
But by the afternoon, the majority of the previous night’s rubbish piles had been cleared.