Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn has decided to hold off on securing a crowd for Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev until the very last month of 2020.
Hearn has been scratching his head for some time now regarding what to do with Joshua due to the ongoing pandemic.
No sporting events allow crowds for the foreseeable future, meaning Joshua is facing the possibility of headlining a world title fight with no fans.
It will be a stark contrast from the usual 80 or 90 thousand cramming into the National Stadium for AJ, who is now eyeing a December 5th return.
“We know AJ’s only going to fight once this year. So we want to give ourselves the best opportunity to bring in a crowd, and that would be the later, the better,” Hearn told ESPN.
“But it’s still not a gimme at all. There’s still a very strong chance that AJ will have to fight behind closed doors.”
On the date, Hearn added: “Bearing in mind he’s only going to fight once this year, I just feel we might as well give ourselves every chance to have a crowd.
“That will be the first weekend of December,” he stated.
ANTHONY JOSHUA TRAINING
The previous furor stemming from Hearn wanting Joshua to face Tyson Fury in 2020 has now died down as the clash never had a hope of happening this year, COVID-19 or not.
Joshua is free to concentrate on Pulev and is now training. But the four-belt champ still managed to give Fury a little dig in a recent interview with Sky Sports News.
He said: “I take him as a serious challenger, of course. But resume? It’s taken him a long time to grow.
“His fight with Wladimir Klitschko was his first real challenge, and he overcame it, but it took him eight years to build his experience and confidence.
“Then he had two years out and fought Deontay Wilder.
“He hasn’t been in the deep end for long enough to show me that he can swim there for a long time. You have to prove that you belong there continually. You don’t just come there once or twice.
“For me as a fighter, that’s how you gain my respect.”
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