Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev could take place with fans in the UK

Anthony Joshua could defend his world titles in front of his home fans despite the coronavirus crisis.

The heavyweight world champion was due to take on mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next month.

But the fight has been postponed indefinitely and is unlikely to take place in the UK with boxing set to be staged behind closed doors for the foreseeable future.

Promoter Eddie Hearn, however, has not ruled out being able to hold the fight in front of fans on these shores later this year.

"We're working on the assumption that AJ vs Pulev will not be able to take place in a venue the size of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium," he told Sky Sports.

"Our absolute priority is to stage the fight in the UK.

"It would be great for sports coming back, and businesses coming back, to have a world heavyweight title fight taking place on these shores.

"We've had interest from the Middle East, the Far East, yet to receive anything official from Croatia but they have shown interest too.

"But we'd like to do it [in the UK]. We are starting to look at venues that are smaller

"There is the possibility of us staging the AJ fight in the UK. I don't think it will be behind closed doors. If we can get some kind of number together [for a potential crowd] we can create an exclusive event to keep this fight in the UK."

Hearn hopes to bring boxing back in the UK in July when he hosts four back-to-back shows in the garden of his Matchroom HQ.

Terri Harper's world title defence against Tasha Jonas has been pencilled in to headline the first card on July 18 with Dillian Whyte's heavyweight showdown with Alexander Povetkin expected to be the main event on the final night.