17 November 2020

No replacement lined up to face Anthony Joshua if Kubrat Pulev falls through, confirms Eddie Hearn

Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed there is no replacement opponent for Anthony Joshua if the Kubrat Pulev fight on December 12 falls through.

Joshua is set to defend his IBF, WBA and WBO titles against the Bulgarian in London next month, the first time he will fight in Britain since he boxed in Cardiff back in September 2018.

But there are concerns about whether the fight will go ahead as recently bouts such as Luke Campbell v Ryan Garcia and Dillian Whyte v Alexander Povetkin have been postponed due to one of the fighters testing positive for coronavirus.

But while that remains a worry for both Joshua and Pulev’s teams, Hearn has ruled out a back-up opponent stepping in if anything goes wrong.

"No, Kubrat Pulev will be making his way to London shortly, sooner than we think, and he will be entering the bubble weeks in advance," he told Sky Sports.

"A lot of these top heavyweights and these guys who are earning considerable purses are being constantly tested on a daily basis.

"You look at Derek Chisora, I think he was getting tested every other day. We will bring Pulev here. Every international fighter has to be tested before they travel, and we will make sure he's in the bubble, in an enclosed environment, because you just can't risk it.

"Normally on fight week, you get a five or 10 per cent chance that a fight could fall through. Here it's 50-50, for every fight.

"When you talk about a fight of that size, you have to take extra precautions and that will be making sure both guys are in a bubble, nice and early, and are locked away under strict surveillance to make sure that they're good to go for fight night."

Joshua is looking to defend his world heavyweight titles for the first time since regaining them last year against Andy Ruiz Jr

(PA)

Joshua and Pulev were originally slated to meet each other back in October 2017 before the Bulgarian suffered an injury and Carlos Takam stepped in.

The were then set to clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June of this year, but the pandemic pushed the bout back.

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