Kubrat Pulev has appeared to confirm that he will face world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua at Beskitas’ Vodafone Arena stadium in Istanbul in May, The Nation report.
The Bulgarian is ranked No 1 with the IBF and is Joshua’s mandatory challenger. The Brit was given until the end of this month to agree terms with Pulev or face being stripped of the organisation’s title.
Sportsmail understands that nothing has been signed despite reports claiming the fight is already a done deal – one of which was shared by Pulev on his official Facebook page.
Joshua and Pulev were due to meet at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium back in October 2017 but the Bulgarian was replaced by Carlos Takam at late notice after being forced out of the fight due to an injury.
Pulev has recorded three victories since then, including one over fellow Brit Hughie Fury, while he has just one blemish on his record, a defeat against Wladimir Klitschko which came in his solitary world title fight back in 2014.
Joshua was also officially ordered to fulfil his WBO mandatory obligations by facing Oleksandr Usyk after regaining his titles in the impressive points win in the rematch with Andy Ruiz Jnr last month.
However, the Pulev fight has taken precedence and talks are reportedly on-going between both camps.
