Before Anthony Joshua could look ahead to a possible undisputed championship fight with Tyson Fury in 2021, he will need to handle a mandatory challenger first. And Eddie Hearn has targeted just the time for AJ to do just that.
Earlier this week, the Matchroom Boxing promoter told ESPN that he's eyeing early December for Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) to face Kubrat Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs), the IBF's mandatory challenger. If Hearn has his way, the bout will happen before a crowd despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"Bearing in mind he's only going to fight once this year, I just feel as we might as well give ourselves every chance to have a crowd and that will be the first weekend of December," Hearn told ESPN about the bout.
He added that the O2 Arena in London would be the fight's desired location.
"Their regulations comply with the government, so at the moment they're closed," Hearn explained. "So they would need to open up. We'd need to get an understanding from the government what is allowed in arenas. Are you going to open at 50 percent [capacity]? Are you going to open up 100 percent? There's a lot of work that has to go into that with the government and the O2."
That being said, given the unpredictable nature of COVID-19, Hearn made sure to state that "there's still a very strong chance that AJ will have to fight behind closed doors" without a crowd.
The 30-year-old Joshua hasn't fought since reclaiming his unified heavyweight titles in a unanimous decision victory in a rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr. last December.
"He must box this year, and obviously it's up to me to find a solution and a crowd," Hearn tacked on, further adding to the urgency.
Pulev, 39, has been out of the ring even longer, having last scored a unanimous decision over Rydell Booker in November. The Joshua-Pulev fight was originally slated for June 20 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, before the coronavirus pandemic dashed those plans.
In June, Hearn also told Sky Sports that Joshua, who holds the WBA, WBO and IBF titles, and Fury, the WBC champ, have agreed in principle to a two-fight deal, with the first bout scheduled for the summer 2021.
In order for undisputed heavyweight glory to be on the line for that bout, Joshua must first defeat Pulev and Fury will need to beat former champion Deontay Wilder in their trilogy fight.