Anthony Joshua’s next fight against Kubrat Pulev is currently being planned for November, but could end up looking quite a lot different to his usual events, reports talksports.com.
The unified heavyweight world champion was originally due to face his mandatory challenger on June 20 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. However, the bout was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic and now promoter Eddie Hearn is figuring out how to rearrange the contest.
Hearn has announced fights behind closed doors in the Matchroom HQ back garden next month, but this won’t do for AJ. The Watford man can generate multi-millions in ticket sales and so is likely to wait until crowds return to the UK in some form. Plan A, according to Hearn, is for Joshua to return to the 16,000 capacity O2 Arena in November. But the promoter also told Standard Sport: “Other ideas we have are 1,000 people somewhere strange and quirky.
“I’ve got a few things up my sleeve. We’re talking about castles, plush hotels, maybe even on a boat.
“Croatia have offered a coliseum — and that’s beautiful —and we’re still open to options and flexible.
“These are all things thinking outside of the box — it just depends what’s allowed.” Pulev’s team have expressed frustration at the delay, with promoter Ivaylo Gotzev saying: “Let’s get after Eddie Hearn and the champ because enough is enough.
“He hasn’t got his stuff together, we are still waiting for a new date.“I understand that the whole world has to reset somewhat, but people in the fight game are back in business.“We are hoping Eddie might take note and start making some moves – but we are still waiting for those moves.”
