Bob Arum confirmed what we all had figured out: Kubrat Pulev does not intend to step aside so Anthony Joshua can go directly into a showdown with Tyson Fury.
Joshua was scheduled to defend his heavyweight titles against Pulev on June 20 at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London but the fight was postponed because of the coronavirus threat.
Fury’s third fight with Wilder also was uncertain because of the pandemic.
Thus, there was talk that Joshua and Fury would bypass their contracted opponents and fight one another for the undisputed heavyweight championship in what arguably would be the biggest possible fight in boxing.
However, Wilder and Pulev have said they aren’t interested in stepping aside. And Arum, who represents the Bulgarian and co-promotes Fury, confirmed that Pulev is determined to fight Joshua next.
“No step aside for Pulev,” Arum told BadLeftHook.com very simply.
The question is when and where.
“I talked to Eddie Hearn about Joshua vs. Pulev,” he said, referring to Joshua’s promoter. “It looks like it can’t be the U.K., because there couldn’t be spectators. [It] looks like there are a couple other possibilities [for the site of the event]. It’s probably not gonna take place until later this year. And definitely not the U.K.
“Also, for Fury vs. Wilder, that’s looking like the fourth quarter.”
Pulev’s manager, Ivaylo Gotsev, pitched the idea of staging the fight at a Roman amphitheater in Pula, Croatia.