British world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will be facing Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20.
Anthony Joshua, who currently holds the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles, will be fighting Kubrat Pulev, the mandatory IBF challenger at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 20.
Joshua reclaimed the belts after defeating Mexican-American Andy Ruiz Jr. in their rematch.
Learning from his upset loss to Ruiz in June, Joshua had a different game plan entering the bout. He avoided trading power punches with Ruiz the entire fight and instead used the ring to dance around his opponent while landing jabs and hooks whenever the opportunity arises.
Joshua said: "I know that my fans like to see me knock people out and I can do that but sometimes with certain fighters you have to box smarter. I understand what Andy brought to the table so I had to decapitate him in a different way."
Pulev said: "I am happy to have the opportunity to show the world how strong I really am." Joshua was initially scheduled to fight Pulev at Cardiff's Principality Stadium in October 2017 but the Bulgarian withdrew after suffering a shoulder injury in sparring.
Pulev is a former European heavyweight champion and his only defeat in 29 fights was a fifth-round knockout by Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015. In 2018, he defeated British boxer Hughie Fury in an IBF final eliminator, obtaining the right to challenge the champion Joshua.
This will be Joshua's first fight in the UK since defeating Alexander Povetkin at Wembley in September 2018.
His promoter Eddie Hearn initially discussed a possible all-British unification fight between Joshua and Tyson Fury after Fury beat Deontay Wilder to capture the WBC title last month.
However, Wilder triggered a rematch clause, forcing a third match between him and Fury, sidelining the Fury-Joshua matchup.
