The International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Bulgarian boxer Kubrat Pulev will hold in Istanbul, Turkey in May.
The date and venue of the fight were confirmed on Pulev’s official Facebook page.
Pulev, 38 posted a link to an article that appears to claim that the much-anticipated fight will take place at the Vodafone Arena – home of Turkish football club Besiktas.
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The pair are due to fight this year, with Pulev the mandatory challenger for Joshua’s IBF heavyweight title.
But according to SunSport while talks are ongoing, any clash between the two boxers will only take place in either the United Kingdom, United States or Saudi Arabia.
No word though has come from Joshua’s camp today regarding the fight.
Both boxers had been due to clash at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium back in October 2017, but Pulev had to pull out with injury and was replaced by Carlos Takam.
Joshua is thought to be keen to return to London for his next fight.
And it was revealed last month that the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium had emerged as a very real contender to host the bout.
The state-of-the-art facility opened in April 2019, and while it would be the stadium’s first boxing event – it has hosted NFL – and is due to host Rugby Union and a concert later this year.
Pulev, known as “The Cobra”, has an impressive 28-1 record in his career.
But that one loss came in his only other title fight – being defeated by Wladimir Klitschko in Hamburg back in 2014.
Pulev’s most recent victory was over Rydell Booker in California on November 9.
And it appears that Pulev has won the race to be Joshua’s next opponent, with WBO challenger Oleksandr Usyk being made to wait until later in the year.
Joshua bounced back from his shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr. to claim a unanimous points decision win in their title rematch on December 7, in Saudi Arabia.
