ANTHONY JOSHUA’S title fight with Kubrat Pulev is set to be moved from the O2 to Wembley Arena.
Eddie Hearn will shift the December 12 battle from south-east London to the capital’s north-west after plans to host as many as 4,000 fans were hit by the second coronavirus lockdown.
AJ will defend his WBA, WBO and IFB heavyweight belts for the first time since his victorious rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia last December.
The superstar and promoter Hearn had been hoping to host a homecoming with a limited audience at the 02.
And following the government’s second national lockdown earlier this month, Hearn was even looking at staging the fight abroad in a bid to get bums on seats.
He claimed scrapping AJ and Pulev’s original fight at Spurs’ new stadium in July saw £8m lost at the gate.
But Wembley Arena, also known as the SSE, will be the venue – just one week after hosting Billy Joe Saunders’ WBO super middleweight title fight against Martin Murray.
Despite the lockdown, Hearn also remains hopeful he can secure entry for 1,000 boxing-starved fans.
Hearn told the Mail: “It is looking like Wembley Arena.
“We are set up there at the moment and obviously the situation with a second lockdown has changed things.
“We were hoping for a crowd at the O2, maybe 4,000 people, and we might possibly be allowed 1,000 but it’s hard to say at this point.
“We have been talking to the DCMS (the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) and we just have to go stage by stage and see.
“AJ is ready to go. He just wants to fight.”
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