It's unclear exactly what Anthony Joshua's heavyweight title defense against Kubrat Pulev will look like, but it is clear where promoter Eddie Hearn wants the fight to take place.
"Our absolute priority is to stage the fight in the UK," Hearn told Sky Sports. "It would be great for sports coming back, and businesses coming back, to have a world heavyweight title fight taking place on these shores."
Hearn said there has been interest in hosting the fight in the Middle East, the Far East and Croatia, but his focus is on staging the fight on Joshua's home soil.
The fight was originally set to take place in London at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which can seat over 60,000. The coronavirus pandemic changed those plans and opened up the search for a new venue and date. Hearn said he doesn't think the fight will take place behind closed doors, and even mentioned the possibility for a potential crowd at the fight.
The timeline for the Joshua vs. Pulev heavyweight fight, which will decide the IBF, WBA and WBO titles, is still up in the air. According to Sky Sports, Hearn previously said he expects Joshua to be in the ring again "at the end of September at the earliest, but more likely in October or November as the restrictions hopefully start to ease."
Although Pulev is the mandatory challenger, there also continues to be speculation for when a Joshua fight vs. Tyson Fury might happen. Speaking with iFL TV on Monday, Hearn said he and Joshua both had missed calls from Fury recently.
"I think it's a wonderful, wonderful fight," Hearn said. "And I'm very, very, very confident that you will see one, probably two (Joshua-Fury fights) in 2021."