Anthony Joshua’s trainer Robert McCracken has admitted that it does not appear as though the British heavyweight will be returning to the ring any time soon amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
AJ was due to take on Kubrat Pulev at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20, and as yet there has been no word on how the global pandemic has affected the bout.
But it appears increasingly likely that the fight will either be postponed or called off altogether, with tickets not even having gone on sale yet, and speaking to Boxingscene.com McCracken did not appear optimistic of the event going ahead as planned.
(Image: PA)
“I spoke to him this week,” McCracken said on Joshua. “He is staying at home and trying to do some keep fit in his house. A bit of stretching, a bit of circuits and a bit of shadowboxing. He is in the same boat as anybody. The world is on pause.
“My guess, and it is only a guess, is that it will be at least another month before the lockdown ends. It is probably unlikely I would have thought. The way this is you have to get the world back going again.
“With the coronavirus, you have to plan to get people in and maybe people will be going into quarantine, so you can’t do anything.”
(Image: PA)
A back-up date of July 25 is reportedly being planned for the fight, but there is no guarantee even then that the fight will be able to take place if coronavirus continues to spread throughout the world.
Joshua is due to fight Pulev as one of his IBF mandatory opponents, while anticipation is building that he could take on fellow British heavyweight Tyson Fury at the end of the year, although that could be affected by the ongoing crisis.
