Kubrat Pulev to donate 50% of his purse from Anthony Joshua fight to coronavirus workers
Bulgarian has pledged to give half of his earnings from his world title shot to those fighting the ‘devilish’ pandemic
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Your support makes all the difference.Kubrat Pulev will donate half of his purse from facing heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua to frontline medical workers fighting the “devilish” coronavirus.
The Bulgarian was due to face Joshua on 20 June with the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles on the line, but that fight has been postponed due to the coronavirus crisis given that all boxing in Britain has been suspended until the end of May.
The 38-year-old is still expected to face Joshua, although there is a great deal of uncertainty over whether a second pre-planned date of 25 July can be used at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium given the Premier League season still needs to be completed throughout the summer months.
With Pulev expected to earn around $5m (£4m) minimum from facing Joshua, he has vowed to donate half of it towards services who are fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
“I will donate 50 per cent of the money I earn from the match with Joshua to the tireless heroes in the fight against the coronavirus,” Pulev told German newspaper Bild.
“I will give doctors, nurses and hospitals the necessary equipment to deal with this devilish virus.”
Pulev is hopeful that he will get his second world title shot “towards the end of the year”, having suffered a defeat against Wladimir Klitschko on his first chance back in 2014.
As a result, the Bulgarian is desperate for the bout to take place, and says he would be prepared to fight behind closed doors even if it impacts on his own financial earnings, given that he believes he has learned from the error of his ways that will help him to defeat two-time world champion Joshua.
“I learned from that. The entire strategy for the fight was wrong. I was much too open and put a lot of pressure early,” Pulev added.
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