While Joshua would ideally wait until crowds are allowed back in arenas in order to maximise his pay-day against Pulev, Hearn is aware he needs to get his client back in the ring as soon as possible to prepare him for a huge bout with Fury.
“He’s good, he [Joshua] gets it. He knows the numbers that would have been for June,” Hearn continued.
“When you talk to him and Robert McCracken, He’s not suffering for a few quid, so he needs to progress his career in the right way and more importantly prepare for the Tyson Fury fight.
“Pulev, coming off a year lay-off, is really good preparation, in my opinion, for Tyson Fury.
“Not stylistically, but just to get in with a big heavyweight, get that big momentum, hopefully score a big knockout and move forward into that fight in 2021.
“We would have taken £5m on the gate, so now there is a £5m hole in the AJ fight.