KUBRAT PULEV’S manager Ivaylo Gotsev has revealed the Bulgarian heavyweight and Anthony Joshua have just three weeks to finalise a location for their world title bout.
SunSport reported last week how there have been talks to stage the WBA, WBO and IBF fight at a Roman amphitheatre in Croatia after their initial June 20 meeting was postponed.
Anthony Joshua has been ordered to face his IBF mandatory challenged Kubrat Pulev nextCredit: Reuters
And Gotsev has claimed that a fight in Croatia remains an option, along with a dust-up in the Middle East as well as a homecoming clash in Britain for AJ.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We’ve given ourselves four weeks to explore any and all opportunities that are there for the fight.
“Eddie (Hearn) has spoken to you about the Middle East, which is a great possibility. It makes sense, because those countries were not as hard affected and if you take the right precautions, we could really have a safe environment.
“That’s something I want to emphasise, and I can’t say it enough times – safety first. We don’t want to take a risk against anyone’s health, no way no how.
“Whatever makes most sense, wherever we can have the best conditions under the current terms we’re living in, that’s where we’re going to go in.
“There you have it, we have about three more weeks left on the exploring and then we’ll see where the best options lie.”
PUSH AND PUL
Commenting on hosting the fight at the Pula Arena, he added: “Why Croatia? Well, first of all, when you look at the map of Europe, it’s right there in the centre of the map, and it makes sense for our continent to host the event, and also the venue itself is very inviting, because it’s an open air venue.
“You could take the proper precautions and the proper measurements to look after people’s safety first. This is not, just go out there and have a fight.
“No, we’ve got to protect the people that are involved with the fight.From participants to the timekeepers, to the judges.
“All the stuff that’s involved in production of such a big event, we’re looking after their health, so we could take proper precautions there and protect everyone.
“Croatia is one of the countries that was not hit very hard, as we know, and also with proper measurements, that could be the case where we’re not exposing everybody.
“An open-air stadium where you could spread out the crowd a little bit makes perfect sense.”
The Pula Arena, a Roman amphitheatre in Croatia, remains an option to host the fightCredit: Getty – Contributor
Talking about whether the UK remains a viable option, Gotsev stated: “We were willing and we actually agreed to come to the UK, so that’s never been a question of neutral ground.
“It was Joshua’s demand, ‘I want to go back home.’ Okay Joshua, you’re the champ, we respect that, we’re coming to the UK.
“Kubrat is coming there to kick your ass, in front of your crowd. No problem.
“They are fighters, it’s one against the other. At the end of the day, the public can jump, scream and shout, but it’s ‘mano e mano’ in the ring, we’ve worked out that. To us, it didn’t matter that the fight is taking place in the UK.”
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
