Anthony Joshua’s WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF heavyweight title defence against Kubrat Pulev could be staged abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic, Eddie Hearn has admitted.
The fight was scheduled for June 20 at the 60,000-seater Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London. That date was postponed and there is little prospect of a huge stadium fight going ahead in London this summer with the UK Government enforcing social distancing rules, so the back-up date of July 25 looks a non-starter too.
After boxing in New York and Saudi Arabia last year, Joshua had insisted on his next fight being at home. But with boxing behind closed doors not a favoured option for the fight, it could end up going abroad or not taking place at all.
“Some countries will start operations before others,” Hearn, the promoter, said. “In America, some states will be safer to work in than others.
“AJ is quite adamant that this fight should take place in the UK but AJ also wants to fight. With regards to Saudi, I'm not sure we can say the Pulev fight can take place there but what we can say is that the Pulev fight could take place in an alternative country to the UK if the UK is not ready.
“I don’t want to do AJ behind closed doors but there will come a point where we can't stall his career any further and if there comes a point where we have to do it behind closed doors then we will.”