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Anthony Joshua likely to face Kubrat Pulev on UK return

Joshua won a twelve round unanimous decision over Andy Ruiz in Saudi Arabia to reclaim his four world titles on Saturday night.

Anthony Joshua likely to face Kubrat Pulev on UK return

Anthony Joshua. (Photo: Twitter/@anthonyfjoshua)

British boxing star Anthony Joshua is ready to start his second reign as world heavyweight champion. The 30-year-old is likely to face Kubrat Pulev at the recently-built Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Promoter of Joshua, Eddie Hearn has said that Pulev could be the next opponent of the British boxer.

Notably, Joshua won a twelve round unanimous decision over Andy Ruiz in Saudi Arabia to reclaim his four world titles on Saturday night. Earlier, he had lost to the Mexican-American in New York in June.

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“It’s going to have to be quite quickly, because obviously now the vultures will be out, as I would be. I don’t blame them,’ said Hearn.

“I’ve got to speak to the IBF and the WBO and see who goes first. I think it sounds like it’s the IBF, but we’ll wait for confirmation of that. AJ will want to maintain the belts and if that’s the case, I think it will be Pulev, and then Usyk.

“I think April or May, that’s a realistic kind of date (for Joshua’s next fight).”

Talking about the venue of the megafight, Hearn added, “We spoke to Spurs about hosting this fight (the rematch against Ruiz), which they were keen to do, but unfortunately the dates didn’t work out. They would be keen to do it and it would be a nice stadium to do it in London.”

The 30-year-old must face one of two mandatory challengers, either the IBF’s Kubrat Pulev or the WBO’s number one contender Oleksandr Usyk.

Joshua last fought in Britain in September last year when he defeated Alexander Povetkin at Wembley, before going abroad for the first time for his ill-fated first meeting with Ruiz in New York.

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