Anthony Joshua wants Tyson Fury fight this year, says Eddie Hearn

Joshua is scheduled to fight Kubrat Pulev at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 20 June but the ongoing coronavirus pandemic means that date is likely to be moved back

Tyson Fury will be Anthony Joshua’s opponent of choice if he is restricted to one fight this year, promoter Eddie Hearn has said.

Joshua is scheduled to fight Kubrat Pulev at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 20 June but the ongoing coronavirus pandemic means that date is likely to be moved back.

If the delays go on beyond the summer and Joshua can only fight once, Hearn says his man would want his opponent to be Fury for an all-British heavyweight unification bout.

“We’ve got June 20 as a pencilled date for Anthony Joshua,” he told Sky Sports News. “We will make a statement, potentially this week or early next week, that’s likely to be delayed, I think that’s pretty straightforward and obvious; hopefully til the end of July.

“If it starts kicking on beyond that, you get to a situation where if Joshua is only going to box once this year he’d like it to be against Tyson Fury.”

Fury is expected to complete his trilogy with Deontay Wilder later in 2020, having dethroned the American in February, but Hearn is hopeful some negotiations could be possible.

“The situation is a little bit out of our hands,” he said. “If Bob Arum and Al Haymon (Fury and Wilder’s promoters) can talk and make Deontay Wilder wait a little bit we would love to go into that fight next.

“We are contractually bound to face Pulev who is with Bob Arum and there is a deal to be done. A lot depends on Deontay Wilder.”