Eddie Hearn could move Anthony Joshua’s next bout abroad as he doesn’t want heavyweight champion fighting beh

Eddie Hearn does not want Anthony Joshua’s next fight to be staged behind closed doors.
AJ was due to face Kubrat Pulev at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20 in his first heavyweight title defence since reclaiming the belts in his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr.

        Mark Robinson/Matchroom     





    Eddie Hearn has promoted Anthony Joshua since his professional debut    

The coronavirus pandemic caused it to be postponed along with most other sporting events around the world.
The British Boxing Board of Control has issued a series of rules for the sport’s prospective domestic return in July, including all shows taking place without fans, and trainers and officials wearing face-masks.
Hearn, who has already suggested he might stage the heavyweight clash between Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin in an empty venue, says the financial implications of doing the same with Joshua make it unworkable.

        Getty Images        





    Anthony Joshua is the two-time unified heavyweight world champion   

Hearn told Boxing Social: “We’re not going to go to AJ and say, mate, there’s £10 million less in the pot – we’ve got to get creative.
“These countries are going to be up and running a lot quicker than our country or America.
“Would Saudi (Arabia) or Dubai or Abu Dhabi be ready to stage an event in September or October? I think 100 per cent.
“If you can’t get a live gate for the bigger fights we have to look elsewhere and that involves looking at other territories.
“Do I really want AJ to box behind closed doors? No. With what he has produced in terms of that live audience, I will be doing everything I can do make sure AJ doesn’t fight behind closed doors.”

    Anthony Joshua answers fan asking him to leave Eddie Hearn

Hearn said he broadly accepted the Board of Control’s guidelines – which they insist are not necessarily binding – but called it ‘a very conservative starting-point’.
Hearn added that the likely return of the sport as small domestic shows would put it at as disadvantage compared with other sports eager to rush back their clogged schedules, and he will seek ways to safely circumvent the restrictions.
He added: “Everybody’s going to be scrambling for air-time and column inches, for digital space, so if we just come back with stuff that’s not going to push the boundaries, and come back with a show in a studio, it’s naff.
“Boxing is better than that. We have to be creative and ground-breaking and innovative.”

                            , <br>TalkSport