Promoter Eddie Hearn has dropped a hint on Twitter that fans may be allowed to attend Anthony Joshua’s fight with Kubrat Pulev.
Pulev will take on four-belt heavyweight champion Joshua as his IBF mandatory challenger on December 12, shown on Sky Sports Box Office in the U.K. and on DAZN in other regions globally.
After the end of the United Kingdom’s first lockdown, Hearn had planned for around 1,000 fans to attend the O2 Arena to watch the fight, but the British government announced a second lockdown in November as coronavirus cases started to rise quickly across the country.
That appeared to end hopes of sporting events allowing spectators for the rest of 2020, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that gyms and non-essential shops would be able to reopen when the current, strict lockdown expired at the start of December. Sporting venues will also reopen.
Indoor stadiums under Tier 1 and 2 restrictions, which are classifications likely to apply to London, will be able to admit 1,000 fans or half the venue capacity, whichever figure is lower.
Hearn was asked on Twitter: "Does today's news mean we'll have a few fans attending the AJ Pulev fight?"
The Matchroom chief replied: "Detailed meetings taking place and we will make an announcement in due course."
Allowing fans back into venues may help fund bigger fights in the future to remain in the United Kingdom, after Hearn had suggested foreign venues would be more lucrative for the proposed fights between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.