Anthony Joshua’s world title defence against Kubrat Pulev in doubt after Bulgarian 'suffers shoulder injury'

The heavyweight challenger is believed to have strained muscles in his right shoulder during a sparring session 10 days ago

Anthony Joshua and Kubrat Pulev were set to face one another next week (Getty)

Anthony Joshua’s world title defence against Kubrat Pulev is in doubt after reports emerged on Monday night that the Bulgarian has suffered an injury.

The heavyweight challenger is believed to have strained muscles in his right shoulder during a sparring session 10 days ago but kept the injury out of the public domain.

Promoter Eddie Hearn was similarly not told about Pulev's injury, The Sun reports.

More than 70,000 tickets have been sold for the fight at the Principality Stadium next week but the event is seemingly now at risk of being cancelled after news of the 36-year-old's muscle strain came to light.

It’s understood that should the fight be called off it will not be rescheduled until spring of next year.

The Bulgarian opponent has won 25 of his 26 professional fights. His lone defeat came at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.