Anthony Joshua and Kubrat Pulev have about three weeks to figure out where they’re going to hold their world title fight, according to Pulev’s manager, Ivaylo Gotzev.
The two were originally set to square off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20, but the fight was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to the two fighters discussing alternative options.
“Eddie [Hearn] has spoken to you about the Middle East, which is a great possibility,” Gotzev told Sky Sports. “It makes sense, because those countries were not as hard affected, and if you take the right precautions, we could really have a safe environment.
“That’s something I want to emphasize, and I can’t say it enough times — safety first. We don’t want to take a risk against anyone’s health, no way, no how.”
Outside the Middle East, one of the venues that has been discussed is the Pula Arena, a Roman amphitheater on the coast of Croatia with a capacity of 5,000. The venue is popular for concerts.
“Croatia is one of the countries that was not hit very hard, as we know, and also with proper measurements, that could be the case where we’re not exposing everybody,” Gotzev said. “An open-air stadium where you could spread out the crowd a little bit makes perfect sense.”
That being said, Hearn still thinks the fight would ideally take place in Britain because Joshua is British and has been vocal about wanting to fight in front of his home nation after regaining his titles in a rematch win over Andy Ruiz Jr. in Saudi Arabia back in December.
“At the moment our preference is to stage the event in the U.K., but we will keep our options open in terms of alternative venues if U.K. is not an option,” Hearn told Sky Sports.
Gotzev said that Pulev is all for having the fight in the U.K. and doesn’t mind giving Joshua home-field advantage.
“It was Joshua’s demand, ‘I want to go back home.’ OK Joshua, you’re the champ, we respect that, we’re coming to the U.K. Kubrat is coming there to kick your ass, in front of your crowd. No problem,” Gotzev said.
“They are fighters. It’s one against the other. At the end of the day, the public can jump, scream and shout, but it’s mano e mano in the ring, we’ve worked out that. To us, it didn’t matter that the fight is taking place in the U.K.”