Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight title fight with Kubrat Pulev will not take place behind closed doors, with promoter Eddie Hearn confirming that his main events will take place in front of fans even if they have to be postponed long-term due to the coronavirus crisis.

Hearn has already held talks with Tottenham Hotspur over Joshua’s homecoming bout with Pulev, which is due to take place at the Premier League club’s stadium on 20 June, after the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) suspended all events in the United Kingdom for the rest of March.

Hearn went further by rescheduling Matchroom Boxing’s April events, but he remains optimistic that Joshua’s title showdown with Pulev will still be able to go ahead as planned. 

One way that Hearn looked at getting his fights to go ahead as planned was to stage them behind closed doors, given boxers do not get paid until they fight, but despite holding talks with broadcasters about potentially shutting out fans to show bouts on television-only, he admitted that it is not a measure he would consider for his biggest events.

“For a long time we were trying to keep shows intact, we had made various enquiries with film studios and TV studios to try and keep these fights on and behind closed doors,” Hearn told Sky Sports News. “These fighters have been training for a long time, obviously they get paid when they fight, but of course now we have a situation where there’s much more important things to think about and deal with and sport definitely comes second place to that right now.

“It’s heartbreaking for the sport and particularly for the fighters but we’ve got to put it into perspective, we’ve got to stay fit, we’ve got to stay healthy and we can resume once everything’s in order.

“The big marquee events have to take place in front of a crowd. This isn’t a scripted sport, this isn’t WWE, this is a sport where fighters have to peak at key moments to produce great performances. 

“We had a situation where I was talking to (Sky’s head of boxing) Adam Booth about Josh Kelly, who’s fighting David Avanesyan on March 28 and I started to talk to him about fighting behind closed doors and it’s like, this is the moment of his career so far, we have to get his performance right and I’m not sure that we can do that behind closed doors. It doesn’t have that same intensity, that same energy.

“I think in some situations on some shows we can provide content behind closed doors, but as soon as the British Boxing Board of Control said ‘we can’t guarantee the absolute correct medical staff and the safety of the fighters in that respect’, the studio option then goes out the window as well and we then have to wait for the resumption of live events - not just boxing but all sport.”

Hearn is due to stage two major heavyweight bouts before the Joshua versus Pulev fight, with Dillian Whyte set to take on Alexander Povetkin and Dereck Chisora facing Oleksandr Usyk on cards both scheduled for May, though both look the most at risk if the coronavirus outbreak develops as the government has warned.

However, there are still three months to go until current IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Joshua is due to face Pulev, and Hearn revealed that he has breathing space to move the bout if required as a ‘Plan B’ date has already been agreed for July.

That could help save the first boxing fight to take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, given that the Premier League will drag on through the summer after its own temporary postponement.

“At the moment it’s still in place,” added Hearn. “Obviously with the news of the Euros being cancelled and the possible extension of the Premier League season, Spurs may need that stadium in June.

“We do have an option to run that fight in July as well at the same stadium. Everything now is really a case-by-case situation and a day-by-day situation of trying to think on your feet. 

“I think that a requirement for Anthony and a necessity for him with this next fight was to box in the UK. June 20 is a long time away, it’s still in our plans and we have been speaking to Tottenham to make sure we’re all on the same page and that we know we have the same strategy moving forward. The Premier League decision (on Thursday) will play a big part in a number of sports’ plans to put new dates in place, and that fight as well. 

“We also have Dillian Whyte due to fight Alexander Povetkin on May 2, we have Dereck Chisora due to fight Oleksandr Usyk on May 23, Anthony Joshua on June 20 and all of those fights are subject to change right now. We hope they won’t need to be moved but we also understand that this is constantly evolving.

“But for the Anthony Joshua fight, already potential plans to move that fight back to July, we do have a date for that, but right now hoping June 20 can remain the date.”

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