Kubrat Pulev To Face Hughie Fury In IBF Heavyweight Title Eliminator

Kubrat Pulev will finally get his shot at fighting someone in an IBF heavyweight title eliminator.

According to a report from ESPN, Pulev will fight Hughie Fury in a title eliminator to decide the next mandatory challenger for Anthony Joshua’s IBF heavyweight belt after both sides agreed to a deal on August 14. The report states the fight will take place on October 27 in Pulev’s hometown of Sofia, Bulgaria. The IBF had scheduled a purse bid for for August 16 but notified all of its registered promoters that the deal had been made and that the purse bid was canceled

Pulev was originally the IBF’s mandatory challenger to Joshua’s title and set to face him last October in Cardiff, Wales. Unfortunately for Pulev, he was injured weeks before the fight took place and was replaced by Carlos Takam. Since then, Pulev was taken out as the mandatory challenger position, but then ordered to fight in a final eliminator.

The problem was that the first boxer ordered by the IBF to fight Pulev, Dillian Whyte, was not interested in fighting in Bulgaria. The fight went to a purse bid, won by Epic Sports and Entertainment, but Whyte then withdrew from the fight. The IBF’s second choice, Jarrell Miller, also was not interested in the fight and thus, Fury, the next available highest-ranked contender and former WBO heavyweight title challenger, was next in line to receive the eliminator shot.

Fury, the cousin of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, has won the British heavyweight title in his lone fight since losing to then-WBO champion Joseph Parker by majority decision.