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A year after his two-fight series with Andy Ruiz Jr., which included the first loss of his professional career in June 2019, Anthony Joshua emerged as a more confident and calculated version of himself on Saturday’s comeback. That doesn’t mean, however, that the unified heavyweight champion can’t deliver the boom.
Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) posted four knockdowns against a determined mandatory challenger in Kubrat Pulev (28-2, 14 KOs) en route to an impressive ninth round TKO in front of 1,000 fans adhering to COVID protocols -19 within London. Wembley Arena.
Although it was clear that 31-year-old Joshua hadn’t forgotten about the unexpected arrest he suffered against Ruiz before taking revenge by decision in December 2019, the British star was able to balance safety with firepower by relying on his great jab. and avoid getting too reckless to go the end. A big part of that was how responsible Pulev, 39, was, along with how much the Bulgarian native was able to withhold the threat of his right hand to stay deep in the fight.
“It was a fight. I want to talk less and more action in the box. I hope everyone is satisfied tonight,” Joshua said. “I stuck to what I do best: boxing, looking where I put my shots. When I was successful, I was successful. I really don’t want to do an interview right now, I just want everyone to go home and enjoy their Christmas.” .
After a tentative start in which Joshua kicked his jab and negotiated the distance, the 6-foot-6 AJ finally made his power felt in Round 3 with a right-hand cross that staggered Pulev. A series of combinations by Joshua followed until a right uppercut forced Pulev to turn his back and head for cover in the corner.
Pulev was lucky he wasn’t counted for doing so and received a count of eight despite not being knocked down. Moments later, Joshua appeared to be close to finishing the job completely when a second right uppercut landed Pulev on the mat late in the round.
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Unable to finish off Pulev, Joshua reverted to auto-pilot and dropped his opponent with the jab, including an increased focus on the body. Though he rarely took chances, Joshua never put himself in much danger, save for a pair of good right hands that Pulev hit in the eighth round, which Joshua put to good use.
Things finally began to fall apart for good in Round 9 for Pulev when a trio of uppercuts forced him to his knees to avoid being stopped. After beating the count, Pulev got to his feet and Joshua used his jab to set up a perfect cross from distance that dropped Pulev again.
Although he was able to stand up, Pulev was on shaky ground and the fight was stopped at 2:58.
Joshua was then asked if he would seek an undisputed championship fight in 2021 against the WBC and linear champion Tyson Fury, with the unified starter coming into play despite a somewhat cryptic response.
“You ask the crowd what they want to see. I’m up for anything,” Joshua said. “That’s [promoter] Eddie Hearn’s work. I started this game in 2013, I have been chasing the belts and fulfilling the mandates. Of course I want the belts. If that’s Tyson Fury, let it be Tyson Fury. Nothing happens. He’s in my next fight, I don’t care about anything else. I have to stay focused. “
Both fighters each have one more mandatory opponent to face first, as Joshua must fight former cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and Fury owes rematch winner Alexander Povetkin-Dillian Whyte a fight.
There is a chance that one or both fighters could drop their title to avoid the mandatory opponent, although that would eliminate the show of Joshua-Fury being an undisputed title fight for all four recognized belts.
“It’s the only fight that can be done in boxing. It’s the biggest fight in boxing. It’s the biggest fight in British boxing history,” Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn said after the fight. “For me, it’s less talking and more action. We know what we want to do, so let’s do it.”
Top Rank’s Bob Arum, Fury’s co-promoter, told Sports Illustrated after the fight He is “absolutely sure” that an agreement can be reached and emphasized that the framework for one was already in place.
Fury, who is rumored to be close to signing a comeback fight against a softer opponent, immediately tweeted after Joshua’s win that he is ready for the next super fight and predicted he would win by knockout in three rounds.
Pulev’s loss snapped an eight-game winning streak since his 2014 loss to then-unified champion Wladimir Klitschko by knockout.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday, following the results and highlights provided below.
Fight card, results
- Anthony Joshua (c) def. Kubrat Pulev by ninth round TKO to retain IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight championship
- Lawrence Okolie def. Nikodem Jezewski by second round TKO
- Hughie Fury def. Mariusz Wach by unanimous decision (100-90,100-90, 99-91)
- Martin Bakole defeat. Sergey Kuzmin by unanimous decision (98-92, 97-93, 96-94)
- Kieron Conway defeat. Macaulay McGowan via unanimous decision (100-90, 100-89, 100-89)
- Florian Marku and Jamie Stewart fought to a draw
Dashboard Joshua vs. Pulev, live coverage
|
Joshua (c) |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
who |
80 |
|||
|
Pulev |
9 |
9 |
7 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
70 |
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