Hughie Fury could be in line for IBF eliminator as Jarrell Miller is yet to agree a fight with Kubrat Pulev
Written by News on 02/07/2018
Hughie Fury could be next in line for an IBF final eliminator as Jarrell Miller is yet to agree terms for a fight against fellow heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev.
The British champion is No 5 in the IBF rankings and will be watching with interest after Epic Sports won the purse bid to stage the Bulgarian’s fight against New Yorker Miller, with Sofia listed as the location for the bout to decide the next mandatory challenger for Anthony Joshua’s IBF belt.
But Miller’s promoter Dmitry Salita insists Miller will not travel to Bulgaria to face Pulev and is still considering other potential opponents, including WBA ‘regular’ champion Manuel Charr.
“Jarrell is interested in a fight with Pulev, but not in Sofia,” Salita exclusively told Sky Sports. “We’re still in discussions about that fight.
“From what I understand, they’ve had some discussions about not doing the fight in the United States. I think there is an openness to it, but obviously they would have to comment on that.
“Jarrell wants meaningful fights. He wants to fight the best fighters in the world, he wants to progress his career. As a result of the last fight, when he beat Johann Duhaupas, he became the mandatory to fight the winner of Charr-Oquendo, so that is something that we’re interested in.
“There was also talk about Jarrell fighting Anthony Joshua. Anthony was rumoured to come to the United States for his US debut.
“It was something that I believe [promoter] Eddie (Hearn) and Jarrell talked about right after his last win, which was a very impressive win. As we see in boxing, things changes from day to day.”
Alexander Povetkin, ranked at No 4 by the IBF, is set to challenge Joshua in a WBA mandatory title fight, leaving Hughie Fury as the next available opponent for Pulev, if he cannot finalise a deal with Miller by next week.
IBF public relations director Jeanette Salazar told Sky Sports: “If Miller were to pull out, then we would go back to the ratings, and then we would go in order and it would be the first leading available contender.
“Miller has 15 days from when he receives the contract to either accept the offer or turn it down, so from what we are aware of, the purse bid was on the 25th, he was sent a contract on the 26th, so we’re still within that 15-day period.”
The IBF originally ordered a final eliminator between Pulev and Dillian Whyte, who instead opted to battle former WBO champion Joseph Parker at The O2 on July 28, live on Sky Sports.
(c) Sky News 2018: Hughie Fury could be in line for IBF eliminator as Jarrell Miller is yet to agree a fight with Kubrat Pulev
