Anthony Joshua’s potential opponent Kubrat Pulev appears to have leaked details over a match-up with the Brit on his Facebook page. The Bulgarian is Joshua’s mandatory challenger via the IBF and is likely to face the world champion in his first fight of 2020.
Joshua has been ticking over in the gym whilst Hearn configures who he will face first.
Oleksandr Usyk is also waiting in the wings for a world title shot via the WBO after moving up to heavyweight from cruiserweight, where he was the undisputed king.
Hearn has revealed that he believes Joshua’s next fight will take place against Pulev and a host of venues are under consideration.
“I believe his next fight will be in April, and my gut feeling is it will be against Kubrat Pulev,” Hearn told BoxingScene.com.
“Joshua doesn’t want to vacate the belts. He loves them. We need to have a conversation of common sense between the governing bodies. We’ve written to to the IBF and WBO.
“Who goes first? You can’t just hold Anthony to ransom and say you have to vacate one.
“There is a rotational system that chronologically tells you who goes first. It’s the IBF. But I also represent Usyk, so I have to push for him as well.
“It’s a bit of a messy situation, but Joshua will defend his titles against whoever he has to. But he really wants the undisputed fight, so we’ll so what happens on Feb. 22 between [Wilder and Fury].”
If Joshua is to vacate a title, he is likely to receive guarantees that he will have the chance to win them back.