Eddie Hearn admits Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev could take place behind closed doors
Anthony Joshua is scheduled to face Kubrat Pulev on July 25.
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Eddie Hearn has admitted Anthony Joshua's clash with Kubrat Pulev could be held behind closed doors. Joshua is tentatively scheduled to defend his unified heavyweight titles against the Bulgarian at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on July 25.
Joshua's first defence of his titles since reclaiming them from Andy Ruiz Jr last December was initially slated to take place on June 20.
The Olympian's homecoming was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has wreaked havoc with the global sporting calendar.
In a bid to get boxing in the UK back underway, Matchroom Boxing chief Hearn is building a facility capable of staging fights behind closed doors.
But as much as he wants Joshua's first outing on British soil in nearly two years to take place in front thousands of fans, Hearn admits the bout with Pulev could end up taking place without any spectators being present.
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My preference is AJ in the UK with a crowd. My next preference is AJ in another country with a crowd. Last resort is AJ behind closed doors.
He told iFL TV: "Those visual impacts are so important for Joshua’s brand, for the sport of boxing, for our country – I don’t want to do that behind closed doors.
"I want to give ourselves every opportunity to stage an AJ fight in front of a crowd.
"We may have to bite the bullet and say he’s only going to box once this year. ‘If that’s the case, we’re okay to go in September or October.
"Don’t want to go much longer than that. Then it’s a year since he last boxed.
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"My preference is AJ in the UK with a crowd. My next preference is AJ in another country with a crowd.
"Last resort is AJ behind closed doors. I’m not going to hold his career up for a year, so we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do."
Joshua's former opponent Dillian Whyte has also seen his clash with Alexander Povetkin delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Hearn has already broached Whyte with the prospect of facing the Russian behind closed doors and insists 'The Body Snatcher' is happy to do so.
"Whyte is one of the guys saying he’ll fight Povetkin behind closed doors," Hearn added.
"Lots of people are saying you can’t stage the big fights behind closed doors. I’m trying to take that perception away.
"I want to stage some of the big fights behind closed doors. You know what, if we wait too long we won’t have a choice. Let’s crack on.
"Yes, we’re going to lose money, but we’ve got - we’ll come back with two or three pumped up NextGen fights and then I want to bounce straight in with Whyte-Povetkin."