Anthony Joshua Kubrat did not let his mind wander before his fight against Pulev. He would have gone ahead in obstacles before, currently failing to anchor himself. But all week she refused to look beyond Pulev, and that incredible attention led to a ninth round stoppage on Saturday in front of 1000 fans at London’s SSE Arena.
Joshua sweetly knocked Pulev down in the third round, though Bulgaria’s strong Ramme kept him in the fight until the ninth. Uppercuts and a straight right-handed rumble eventually floor the excited pulav.
For Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs), it was as exotic as that ugly Andy Ruiz Jr. spell, as it reminded him of Joshua’s ruthless ability to stop fighting in his tracks. The uppercut was at the point as Joshua kept his thrilling promise, but despite his laser-like focus, coming felt like a starter with the main course coming.
Joshua did not even mention Tyson Fury’s name in the composition of the fight, but the potential epic match between him and the WBC belt holder in 2021 was overshadowed by this turn. It was only after sending Pulev away that Joshua finally mentioned those two words of the man standing in the way of unification.
“When I started the game in 2013, I was chasing all the belts, dealing with the mandators,” Joshua said. “Of course, I want a challenge, it’s not about opponents, it’s about heritage and the belt – whoever gets the belt, I like to compete with it. If it’s Tyson Fury, let it be Tyson Fury. No big deal. “
Fury turned down matchroom promoter Eddie Horn’s invitation to ringside at SSE Arena, but Joshua defended his WBA, IBF and WBO titles and watched from afar as he kept his ancestral promise of “destruction”. [Pulev’s] Soul “.
.anthonyfjoshua It’s about time ….. ⏰ ⏰ I will do like you BronzeBumber 2/3 round. #YOUBUMSOSER #letgetiton pic.twitter.com/7m8A8Je0ui
– Tyson Fury (@Tyson_Fury) December 12, 2020
The fight has been going on for a very long time – a year and five days after Joshua stopped Ruiz in a match again in Saudi Arabia after a nightmare in Madison Square Garden. There were fears that Joshua would show ring rust, but to deal with it, he scattered during Thursday evening of Fight Week, warning his trainer Rob McCracken not to wear headgear just a few days after the fight.
Pulev, 39, (28-2, 14 KOs) was a capable opponent and landed a few jabs on Joshua, but the British fighter was in complete control.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. was Ringside, urging Joshua to overuse it, but Joshua did so and stuck to the plan to send Pulev and avoid another slip.
He prepared for the fight as Vladimir Klitschko did for Pulev in 2014. Later Joshua was one of Klitschko’s sparing partners. He spoke with the Ukrainian great for an hour on the phone on Wednesday, seeking information inside his opponent and seeking information from Klitschko on how he had suffered the only second defeat in Pulev’s career before Saturday.
The performance is reminiscent of Klitschko, as were his later words.
“I’m my best version – I’m just not in a fight with myself or anyone else,” Jeshua said, avoiding making any predictions about who would swim in this sentence.
The next step for Joshua may be WBO challenger Alexander Yusik, but boxing wants to see an all-British superfight against Xing World Fury. The “Gypsy King” has been a big part of Joshua’s spotlight this year, back in February when Dont thanked Wilder for the win, but Joshua will never stay in the shadows long.
Joshua knows deeply that he will have to improve further if he is to beat Fury. He thought he could have finished this fight against Pulev earlier, but let the Bulgarians come back. Against an opponent like Fury, he will not be able to give those chances, nor will he be able to pull through Fury’s interruptions. Joshua has long prided himself on avoiding the pantomime of longing. He was worried that his win over Ruiz in December was not fun enough. After Saturday’s win over Pulev, he immediately spoke of his hope that the show was enjoyed by fans lucky enough to secure one of the 1000 tickets. But this was about winning, a little bit more.
It was just like Joshua’s previous fight in the UK, which came back in 2018. It was in the same corner of London, to welcome Joshua to the field with a bass guitar riff that burst into the chest of the fiery AJ starter and White Stripes. At the time, his seventh-round stoppage of Alexander Povetkin was the final hurdle before the fight for unification. But Joshua had a perfect plan for world domination, as Ruiz stunned the Brit and boxing Xing world. With this win he pulled his show back on track. This victory gives Joshua a platform to chase boxing immortality with Fury, who turned to the Instagram postfight promising to beat Joshua in three rounds while waiting.
Joshua has done his job well – he made his preparations on “less talk, more action”. That’s the message for the boxing world. Now power brokers need to make a deal to give boxing the fight it needs.
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