By Barry Holbrook: Adam Smith of Sky Sports wants Anthony Joshua to come back to Britain for his next fight against Kubrat Pulev. It’s been two years since Joshua last fought at home in England in his title defense against Alexander Povetkin in September 2018, and Smith would like to see him return home.
It’s difficult to exert pressure on Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) to fight in the UK, because he can make up to three times more money fighting abroad, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn. Further, Joshua’s promoter Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) won’t likely agree to fight in the UK if it means less money for him. He obviously wants to go where the fight with AJ will pay the most, and that could be back in Saudi Arabia
It’s tough for Joshua to abandon his fans, because he’s arguably hurting his popularity by not fighting at home. The British boxing fans are the ones who backed Joshua from the beginning, and made him popular. For him to leave them in the dust in order to enrich himself, his opponents and his promoters outside of the UK, it looks bad. It makes Joshua look self-serving.
Adam Smith: I really want Joshua to fight in Britain
“I want Anthony Joshua to fight in Britain,” said Smith to Boxing Social on AJ’s next fight against Pulev. “But I really want Anthony Joshua to fight in Britain. I think that the British fans need him to fight here. He hasn’t fought since the Povetkin fight. He’s been in America, and he’s been in Saudi.
“It’s not that he owes it to anyone,” said Smith about Joshua. “He’s got to go where the money is. It’s a business, but I think Anthony really wants to fight, and I think his team really wants to fight in Britain. I think Eddie does, and I do. So if we can make it work, we will. I went to Spurs [in Tottenham] a couple of weeks ago for the Liverpool game.
“I was extremely impressed with [the Spurs Stadium],” said Smith. “And I thought it was fantastic, and I hadn’t been there before. And I had heard brilliant things. Got a connection with the architect that had designed the place with Daniel Levy, and so I had heard it was unbelievable and so much work had gone into it.
I had a quick chat with Daniel, and they are very, very keen for Anthony Joshua to fight at Spurs. The stadium blew me away. I thought it was incredible. So I think it would host boxing brilliantly. I think there are only certain dates that Spurs can make during that time. They’ve got to make sure the dates work.
It’s not Smith’s call for where Joshua’s next fight will be staged. He can suggest that Joshua fight in Britain, but if the money can’t come close to where he can get abroad, then he’s probably not going to resist.
Joshua to fight Pulev in May or June
“If we get it right, I think Anthony Joshua will fight in Britain in May or June,” said Smith. “I think that’ll be fantastic, but of course we don’t know with the money that is floating around. I know before Saudi, we were almost announcing the rematch with Ruiz was going to take place in Cardiff, and then what happens? We all end up in the desert.
“You never know in this business, and we still don’t know what’s going to happen with the Pulev negotiations, because they’re still ongoing,” said Smith. “But my pick would be Joshua-Pulev in London at the beginning of May or in June. Like I said, I was blown away by the Spurs setting.
“If it lands in London in one of those two great stadiums, it would be a wonderful fight for British fight fans and everybody, and I think Anthony would love it. Who knows where we’ll end up. We’ve been in Saudi, and we’ve been in New York. We could be back in the Middle East or Africa. We’ll try very hard to get in back in the UK for British fight fans,” said Smith.
Joshua probably is conflicted about not fighting in the UK in front of his boxing fans, but it might not be his call entirely. AJ’s promoters at Matchroom Boxing have a lot to say about it, and they’re not likely going to be happy at seeing Joshua get less money fighting at home in England.