Promoter Eddie Hearn believes that Anthony Joshua and Kubrat Pulev are still set to fight in December despite the coronavirus pandemic.
A provisional date of 12 December at the O2 Arena had been pencilled in for Pulev vs. Joshua, as the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion needs to face his mandatory challenger.
The fight had originally been planned for 20 June but was postponed due to COVID-19. Revived coronavirus restrictions mean that fans are now unlikely to be allowed in to watch the event. Despite that, Hearn is reluctant to let the new date slip.
The impatience may be due to Joshua’s absence from the ring, which could stretch to a year after Joshua last fought in December 2019 in Saudi Arabia, when he won back his titles from Andy Ruiz.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Hearn affirmed his commitment to the new schedule.
"Obviously today’s announcement (on fans not being able to attend events) is a massive challenge for everyone in sport. Our intention now is carry on with all our scheduled events," Hearn said.
"Clearly the finances are affected by not having crowds, even smaller crowds, but we’re working to keep our schedule. That includes Joshua. You have two options — cancel or go ahead, quite possibly without a crowd.
"You’d still hope that by December you might have some back but you can’t plan on that now. We’ll go ahead in December for Joshua because it’s been a year since he fought Andy Ruiz and he needs to fight."