Heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte 23-1 (17) could be off to Bulgaria to face Kubrat Pulev 25-1 (13) in an IBF final eliminator for his next fight, according to promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing.
But Hearn isn’t expecting the 30-year-old London “Body Snatcher” to be happy about it.
The 37-year-old Bulgarian revealed last week that the fight is “95 per cent” likely to take place in his home country despite Whyte being scheduled to fight on July 28 in London against an opponent to be named.
Hearn is in negotiations with Epic Sports and Entertainment, who won the purse bid for the fight with a bid of $1,500,111, about where the fight will eventually take place.
Epic Sports easily won the rights to the fight by outbidding Matchroom Boxing’s bid of $831,111, while Pulev’s promoter Team Sauerland offered $801,305 for the fight. Under IBF rules Pulev is entitled to 75% of the winning bid, while Whyte will receive the remaining 25%.
“We have been talking to Epic about some different opportunities to work together on the fight and at the moment, we are all systems go for that fight,” Hearn told Sky Sports.
“We have also got the opportunity for the WBC to fight (Luis) Ortiz for a final eliminator but at the moment, we are just proceeding with the Pulev fight.
“It depends on what they want to do. If they want to take it to Bulgaria, I can’t say we will be jumping through hoops but it doesn’t mean we won’t go.
“But with the amount of money that Epic have bid, unless they’ve done a side deal with Pulev – which we don’t know – I don’t think they can do the fight there without haemorrhaging a huge amount of money.
“We will have to see. We have to make a decision by Monday on what we are going to do about July 28. Can we still bring Pulev to the UK for that fight? I am not sure.”
“Dillian is training for the end of July, but if he’s fighting Pulev in August or September, that’s not going to happen. We will have to see but now all eyes are on Pulev and working with Epic to try and make that happen.”
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