Anthony Joshua Title Defense Will Have Some Fans

The long wait for the re-scheduled Unified World Heavyweight Title fight between champ, Anthony Joshua and IBF #1 contender, Kubrat Pulev was due in large part to the hope that some fans could be in attendance. And that delaying has paid off.

On Wednesday morning, it was announced by Matchroom Boxing that 1,000 fight fans will be allowed in the Wembley Arena next Saturday night for the scheduled 12 round battle,

We look forward to seeing 1,000 of you for #JoshuaPulev ?

Tickets go on sale this Friday priced £100, £200, £300, £500 and £1,000 (VIP) via @AXS_UK & @StubHubUK with strict safety measures and guidelines in place. pic.twitter.com/nIJEsstxsE

— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) December 2, 2020

“We look forward to seeing 1,000 of you for #JoshuaPulev

Tickets go on sale this Friday priced £100, £200, £300, £500 and £1,000 (VIP) via @AXS_UK
& @StubHubUK with strict safety measures and guidelines in place,” the announcement said.

Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) and the 38 year old Pulev, who has been top ranked by the IBF since last year, will battle for the WBA, WBO, and IBF World titles.

The English star Joshua has been inactive since last December, when he avenged a humiliating TKO loss to American Andy Ruiz by scoring a 12 round decision in Saudi Arabia.

Joshua had originally signed up to defend against the Bulgarian in June at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Soccer Stadium in front of over 65,000 fans. However, the Covid-19 pandemic scuttled that and has delayed the fight now into this Winter.

Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn had been exploring numerous alternative sites in England and besides the U.K., including possibly returning to Saudi Arabia. Or, as had been reported earlier, possibly staging the fight in Pulev’s home country of Bulgaria. However, England made the most sense for Joshua’s fan interest and financially, for the fight.

There is also the intriguing angle of a potential Joshua-Tyson Fury Undisputed Title fight in 2021. Hearn has previously confirmed that the current WBC champ Fury’s co-promoters, Bob Arum of Top Rank in Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions, have agreed to a two fight deal with Joshua with an automatic rematch clause.

Of course that supposes that Joshua is successful against the 38 year old Pulev and more risky, Fury still allegedly has to defeat former WBC champion, Deontay Wilder, whom he stopped in February to regain a portion of the Heavyweight Championship.

Fury believes he can walk away from their third fight due to it not happening by the end of 2020, as the rematch clauses specified. Wilder, who held the WBC belt for five years, has initiated mediation to try to get a fight date set and eventually, wants an arbitrator will likely rule on whether the Fury-Wilder contract still binding and they must fight each other?

For now, step one towards Joshua-Fury with the Unified Champ winning on December 12th.