Anthony Joshua plans to fight Tyson Fury TWICE in 2021 with Kubrat Pulev title defence pencilled in for autumn

ANTHONY JOSHUA plans on fighting Tyson Fury TWICE next year.

And he is currently pencilled in to battle Kubrat Pulev this autumn.

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That’s according to Eddie Hearn, who believes an all-British bout between AJ and Fury deserves at least two separate outings.

However, Hearn admits the fights may not take place in the UK as mega-money offers flood in from abroad.

And both boxers first have to focus on other commitments before stepping in the ring together next year, with AJ facing Pulev and Fury taking on Deontay Wilder for the third time.

Hearn told Sky Sports: “It would probably be a two-fight deal. Any deal between Fury and AJ, you run it twice.

“It is not a condition of the deal but it was in their deal with Deontay Wilder, and it is the biggest fight in boxing so it is likely you will see that twice.

“Wilder is not going to be stepping aside so Pulev is the fight for us.

“I had a conversation saying ‘Wilder is not stepping aside, we will take care of that fight, you take care of Pulev, but let’s get a deal done for 2021’.

“We have no problem signing now to fight Fury in 2021.

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“It will work out better for both of them to box off those fights then have a clear route, subject to Dillian Whyte being mandatory to Fury, to get [an undisputed title fight] done.

“The focus remains the same - do the fight in the UK. We have also conceded that AJ will only fight once this year.

“Before it was all about getting that fight in early August to make sure we could fight in December.

“We hope between September and December live gates will return to the UK. There’s also a chance they won’t.

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“If that’s the case, we will take the fight elsewhere. We have had a number of approaches from the Middle East, China and Croatia.

“We want to give ourselves every opportunity to stage it in the UK but we know it may not be possible.

“We want the mandatory defence boxed off, out of the way, before he moves into the undisputed fight next year.”