The heavyweight was expected to face the Bulgarian veteran in June but in aa surprise announcement earlier this week, it was revealed he will be getting into the ring against Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller, and Fabio has insisted Kubrat had “no interest whatsoever” in a fight with him.

He told Boxing News magazine: “The long short of it is Pulev was scared and greedy.

“He had no interest whatsoever in fighting me, and if he was to get within 100 yards of me, he wanted a tremendous amount of money – way above his pay grade, way above what he’s worth and way above anything he’s ever been paid before.

“So, in the essence of time and not wanting to wait around and let someone try and bully me, we decided to pivot and we landed on Jarrell Miller.”

Fabio has had to change his preparations as a result because Kubrat and Jarrell are such different fighters.

He explained: “Pulev being a 43-year-old veteran of the game, very strong Eastern European, long lever style, bouncing on his toes, hop in, hop out, straight shots.

“Then compare that to a fighter who isn’t short, but fights short, in Miller, a fighter who tucks his knuckles down, sits behind his gloves and sits behind his weight.

“His main objective is to absorb shorts and wear you down with his size and weight.

“He’s quite happy to lose the first four or five rounds because he thinks by eight, nine, 10, he can have you ground down and he can get you out of there.”