Anthony Joshua tweaks knee in training, still targeting fall fight with Kubrat Pulev

Unified heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua suffered a minor setback in training, reportedly tweaking his knee left knee as he was spotted using crutches and a knee brace while speaking at a Black Lives Matter rally in England. A spokesman for Joshua claims the brace and crutches are only precautionary and there’s no more serious concern at the moment.

At this point Joshua is still being lined up to make his mandatory IBF title defense against Kubrat Pulev next with the original fight date having been June 20, but since pushed back due to the coronavirus outbreak. A rescheduled date has still not been finalized, but Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn is looking at the fall where he hopes to be able to have at least some fans in attendance.

“I feel that when that fight will take place, which will probably be October, November, we will be able to have a small number of people in a crowd in the U.K.,’’ Hearn said.

And while Hearn continues to mention the U.K. being their site of choice for the fight, other options in Croatia and the Middle East have been in discussion.