Boxing’s current hiatus as a result of the ongoing coronavirus has now started affecting fights in June.
Matchroom Boxing announced that the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight title bout between unified titleholder Anthony Joshua and mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev, set for June 9 in London, has been postponed.
Previously, Matchroom Boxing announced all of its events scheduled for May have been postponed with some of them being rescheduled for July. Two fights in particular, Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin and Lee Selby vs. George Kambosos Jr., have been moved to July 4 and 11, respectively. The other main event fight originally scheduled for May, Oleksandr Usyk vs. Derek Chisora, will take place on a date to be determined later.
From Matchroom Boxing:
Anthony Joshua’s defence of his IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO Heavyweight World Titles against Mandatory Challenger Kubrat Pulev scheduled to take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday June 20 has been postponed.
A new date for the event promoted by Matchroom Boxing and 258 Management in association with Top Rank and Epic Sports Entertainment is currently being worked on. We will announce any updates in due course and continue to explore the possibility of hosting this fight at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The fight between Joshua and Pulev would have been Joshua’s first since regaining the heavyweight titles when he defeated Andy Ruiz Jr. last December in Saudi Arabia. Joshua last fought in the United Kingdom in September 2018 when he defeated Alexander Povetkin.
Most major boxing shows through May have already been postponed or canceled entirely. The only major show that is scheduled through the next eight weeks is the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight finals between Mairis Briedis and Yuniel Dorticos in Latvia on May 16. That fight was also originally going to take place on March 21.
