Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua will be for a world heavyweight title after all. The vacant WBA “super” belt will be on the line when the pair meet on December 11 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, first reported by Mike Coppinger of The Ring.

The fight was announced Thursday morning as a 12-round non-title bout. Hours later, the WBA reintroduced a status it had only recently retired.

Oleksandr Usyk vacated his belts in June, including the WBA “super” strap, and the sanctioning body briefly shelved the designation at heavyweight, leaving Murat Gassiev as its lone heavyweight titlist after he won the “regular” belt from Kubrat Pulev last December and defended it against Peter Kadiru in July. With the “super” title restored for Cardiff, the WBA will again have two heavyweight champions, and a portion of the biggest purse in British boxing this year will go to the organization in sanctioning fees.

The WBA ranks Fury second and Joshua third at heavyweight, with Jarrell Miller the No. 1 contender. Fury’s manager Spencer Brown had publicly pushed for exactly this outcome over the summer, urging the WBA to put a belt on the fight.

The decision drew immediate criticism from inside the industry. Veteran promoter Lou DiBella posted: “FOH with this shit. I at least thought Dana and Nick would reject this kind of embarrassing nonsense. Instead they are promoting it with their partner Turki.”

The objection is structural rather than personal. Three months ago the WBA had no “super” champion at heavyweight because Usyk gave the belt up. It has one again now, for a fight staged by the owner of The Ring, reported first by The Ring, with a sanctioning fee attached to the biggest purse of the year.

Separately, Frank Warren confirmed there is no rematch clause in the contracts. Asked by talkSPORT whether one existed, Fury’s promoter said: “No, not at the moment.”

That matters for a fight between a 38-year-old and a man who turns 37 next month, with both sides free to walk away from a sequel regardless of the result. Warren also laid out a path for the winner, telling IFL TV the December 11 victor could go in with the winner of Daniel Dubois against Fabio Wardley, who meet in their rematch on October 17.

Then there is the omission. As Sky Sports noted, the statement officially confirming the date and location namechecked Turki Alalshikh, The Ring and Dana White, but not Frank Warren or Eddie Hearn, the long-time promoters of Fury and Joshua respectively. The two men who have guided these fighters through their entire professional careers, and who spent the summer arguing over where the fight would land, do not appear in the announcement of it.

Hearn has already rejected White’s inclusion. He told the Independent that White is not involved and that he has the word of Sela and Alalshikh on it, and he was blunter on IFL TV: “When I saw the press release, I just couldn’t stop pissing myself.” He added that there are “loads of battles to come on that because that ain’t happening either,” and said he would be speaking to Netflix “just to remind them of their contractual obligations.”

The Welsh Rugby Union confirmed the venue separately, saying the bout is “scheduled to take place in the early hours of morning, following a full night of world-class boxing in the Welsh capital.” Hearn said the exact timing rests with the broadcaster and the organizer: “It’s my understanding it will be around 1:00 a.m., 1:30 a.m. But again, if it creeps to 2, I don’t know.”

Cardiff Council leader Cllr Chris Weaver welcomed the announcement as reflecting “the city’s continuing reputation as a destination for major sporting and entertainment events.” The WRU said it would continue working with Welsh Government, Cardiff Council, South Wales Police and transport partners on delivering the event.