Are We Close To Seeing Anthony Joshua-Kubrat Pulev?
Over the past few months, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn has been looking into making sure that an Anthony Joshua bout against Kubrat Pulev was possible. Adamant that he would like fans to be available for a Joshua fight, Hearn is hoping a plan can come together. If recent talks are any indication, we could see the bout before Christmas.
Hearn recently stated that the planned November date could still be in play.
“I spoke to Bob Arum on Thursday and November is the absolute focus for Pulev against Joshua,” Hearn stated, via The Sun. “The way things have moved in the last few weeks here, I’m really confident we can get a crowd here for Joshua against Pulev.”
As far as a venue, Hearn is looking for whatever is safest and realistic. The bout between the two was previously scheduled for June 20 inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but was postponed due to the coronavirus. Hearn previously recommended Royal Albert Hall or Olympia in the UK, which could hold over 1,000 people. This is after he predicted that fans would probably be allowed back to watch events by late August.
Outside of the UK, Croatia has been an option to host the fight. Hearn, however, has slowly been bringing Matchroom back to the UK. The promotion recently announced the cards for “Fight Camp” set in the backyard of Matchroom’s UK office. Waiting for big venues for someone like Joshua, Hearn has a few other locations in mind for the fight.
“If we’re not allowed the Principality Stadium, we’ll happily go to the Manchester Arena or The O2,” Hearn went on to say. “It would be amazing to see Josh fight back there.
“I’m confident and we’re starting to talk to venues that aren’t open yet about the possibility of opening those venues up should they be allowed.”
No major sporting entities have allowed fans inside stadiums for events. Keeping an eye on COVID-19 numbers, Hearn will look to be updated on the ongoing pandemic.
Hearn also focused his attention on Joshua v Tyson Fury. The two agreed in principle to fight one another in 2021. Recently, Bob Arum of Top Rank took over negotiations on Fury’s side as a result of Fury and Arum parting ways with Daniel Kinahan. Like Joshua-Pulev, Hearn is also confident a deal will get done with Arum helping out.
“[Arum] is in charge of everything and that’s all right with me,” Hearn stated, via Boxing Scene. “We had a really good chat last night, talking about Joshua-Fury, talking about the fact that, ‘yes we know we’ve agreed the money and how the split’s going to work’. Now we need to move forward, particularly on where that fight will be staged, when it will be staged.
“Over the next month or so we’ll be putting the paperwork together for that and finalizing it for 2021.”