Anthony Joshua set to defend his three world heavyweight titles against Kubrat Pulev in December but Eddie Hearn says there’s a ‘strong chance’ fight will be held behind closed doors.
The pair were due to face each other at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20 but the coronavirus pandemic forced the clash to be canceled.
A new date for the clash has not to been announced yet but it’s likely going down in December with London’s O2 Arena as a possible location.
Speaking with ESPN, Hearn said: āWe know AJās 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.ā
āBut itās still not a gimme at all. Thereās still a very strong chance that AJ will have to fight behind closed doors.
āBearing in mind heās 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.
āTheir regulations comply with the government, so at the moment theyāre closed.
āSo they would need to open up. Weād need to get an understanding from the government what is allowed in arenas. Are you going to open at 50 percent [capacity]? Are you going to open up 100 percent? Thereās a lot of work that has to go into that with the government and the O2 (Arena).ā
Joshua, 30, won back his WBA, WBO, and IBF world heavyweight titles when he beat Andy Ruiz Jr in their rematch in December 2019.
After his clash with Pulev clash, the British-Nigerian heavyweight champion will face WBC champion, Tyson Fury, in a British heavyweight showdown.