WBA Super, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is likely to defend his crowns against mandatory contender Kubrat Pulev in the first week of December, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.
Originally scheduled for June 20 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the heavyweight confrontation has been put on ice due to the intervention of the Covid-19 Pandemic with overseas venues and other options discussed as the boxing world gingerly returns on five-fight bills behind closed doors.
The preference is for Joshua to fight IBF No.1 Pulev with fans in attendance so that means delaying the bout until more months have passed and, hopefully, the pandemic eases. The O2 Arena, where Joshua built his fanbase on packed-out fight nights, is the preferred venue.
“We know AJ’s only going to fight once this year, so we want to give ourselves the best opportunity to bring in a crowd and that would obviously be the later the better,” Hearn told Steve Kim of ESPN. “But it’s still not a gimme at all. There’s still a very strong chance that AJ will have to fight behind closed doors.
“Bearing in mind he’s only going to fight once this year, I just feel as we might as well give ourselves every chance to have a crowd and that will be the first weekend of December.”
That would mark a frustrating year out of the ring for Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) who has his eyes on a two-fight series with WBC champion Tyson Fury, beginning in 2021. Dangerous Bulgarian Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) stands in his way.
“He must box this year and obviously it’s up to me to find a solution and a crowd,” said Hearn. “But he also knows at the same time, he must fight because it will be a year in December since the Ruiz [II] fight.
“He’s still improving, he’s still learning and he’s not prepared to just sit out and not fight.”