WBA, IBF, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) scored a spectacular ninth round knockout against IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev (28-2, 14 KOs) on Saturday night before 1,000 socially distanced fans at the SSE Arena outside London. After two slow rounds, 8:1 favorite Joshua dropped Pulev twice in round three. AJ was content to outbox Pulev in rounds four thru eight, he then dropped Pulev again in round nine. Pulev beat the count, but Joshua connected with a big right hand to put him down for the count. Time was 2:58.
After the fight, Joshua and promoter Eddie Hearn took aim at a 2021 fight against WBC champ Tyson Fury.
What an impressive domination by Anthony Joshua. I thought he’d fight more cautious but the warrior instinct took over and he destroyed Pulev quite easily. Who’s ready for Tyson Fury Vs Anthony Joshua TWICE in 2021?
Pulev was a sitting target most of the fight with minimal movement. AJ simply had target practice. Pulev I think gave us more an exciting promotion of the fight with his words than he did providing a great fight. LOL
At this point in the game, I will have to say that Tyson Fury out boxes AJ for an easy win in an UD. Joshua has too much of a bad habit of staying stationery to set up his punches. I think Fury will easily take advantage of AJ’s offense and pull way ahead in the fight. KO? Possible….Not really looking for it from either guy.
I was very familiar with Pulev by name, but I never saw much of him in the ring. I was shocked at how bad he was. No head movement. Extremely limited offense. Goes to show you the state of the heavyweights today is pretty awful. What they make up for in size, many have lost in skill.
This is why a guy like Fury can be dominant. He is huge and is actually quite skillful and nimble for his size. A fight I would have loved to have seen is Vitali vs Fury. Both guys who are super tough, huge, but awkwardly graceful, and with a solid skill set. Unlike Wladimir Vitali would have taken far more chances and has the beard for it. Although they should probably allow sutures in the corner and ponchos for anyone within the first 5 rows hah.
Decent performance from AJ, showed patience and a good repertoire of punches. That chin of Pulev’s though, is it made of granite? Well done two warriors, thanks for an entertaing fight.
I guess I was watching a different fight. It was terribly boring. Jab, hold, hit behind the head, repeat. Fury blows him out or boxes his socks off. Guaranteed
totally agree , to much holding
While I appreciate that Fury will be favourite when the fight happens lets not forgot that Wilder was never as good as made out to be.
Wilder fanboys tried to kid us he was superman. Fury also did very well against a under motivated Wladimir K . Not the same Wlad who fought possibly he best of his career against AJ.
Lol. Unmotivated Wlad? Nice try on trying to give more credit to AJ against the same opponent. News flash: Wlad looked unmotivated because he could not hit the guy. And Wilder is still good. He dropped Fury 2x something Wlad was unable to do. Joshua got smoked by Ruiz. Give up trying to paint AJ as the best. It’s just not true.
Just your opinion and just mine above, us brits are glad we have 2 British champs. Many from your side were made up Wilder as the best of the 3 before he fought any of the other 2. Tyson deserves to be the favorite as he is unbeaten. Also at no time did I say AJ was the best. On paper Tyson looks too good but that just paper until it happens. Also Ruiz won good for him he also lost the rematch. I have watched that fight many time WK v TF and as good as TF and outboxed was it was a very boring fight that in the old days would booed by boxing fans, watch it again and see just how lack luster Wlad and the fight actually was.
Wilder was definitely overrated. He turned out to be a one trick pony.
Yeah, the undermotivated Wlad thing is hard for me to buy. He was thoroughly outboxed by Fury, and that’s why the fight was boring. Wlad simply couldn’t do anything.
Wilder is good, but skillwise, AJ is far better. The difference is whether or not AJ has the chin and fortitude to hold up against the big guys and that’s a huge question mark. However, skillwise and versatility, Wilder doesn’t come close. He simply has no ability to fight off the backfoot. When he’s pressured by a bigger guy, the whole game falls apart because he can’t get set to load up, and unless he works on that, other guys have been given a blueprint on how to fight him. That doesn’t mean they’ll win because his power is other-worldly, but there is a glaring hole in his game.
Yeah it is important to note that while Wilder seems like he can take a better shot than AJ. AJ is a far more skillful fighter. He makes mistakes, but overall he’s very skilled an athletic for a guy of that size.
Although I have to disagree, Wlad fought Tyson a year and a half before Anthony. It wasn’t that Wlad was undermotivated. Stylistically, Fury is an awful opponent for Wladimir. Wladimir is great when he can keep an opponent at range and fight his own pace. Fury being taller and longer than both AJ and Wlad made the fight impossible for Wlad. Yes it was boring, but Fury thoroughly outboxed him, and made it nearly impossible for Wlad to get off.
I don’t think Wlad fares well against Fury at any point in his career. Vitali is a different story because Vitali showed against Lewis that he could FIGHT when he had to fight, and has an excellent jaw (never once knocked down), unlike Wlad.
Fury in 2!
Yep Roy, after watching this, tend to agree.
Mixed bag for AJ. Overall solid performance, but he still wastes too much energy for his size, and he gets a bit overanxious when he has a guy hurt. Instead of setting up the knockout he just starts throwing kill shots.
Tonights version of Joshua is going to be hard to beat. He’s learned to pace himself, double up on his jab, and place / time his big shots when it counts.
I agree. Well put together combinations and super hard accurate punches. No walk over as a boxer for sure. I don’t see anyone demolishing him especially after watching that one white European fighter cutting his face up and nearly coming off with a win. Wilder is super one dimensional with no skills relying on that one straight lucky R hand. Fury is no george foreman and I thing AJ is equal as a boxer and hits harder.
Furys face getting cut up sorry.
Lol. AJ did not look good. He’s no Lennox Lewis as previous comparisons have been made. He’s not bad but Wilder or Fury got him.
Anthony, your having a laugh, Wilder has got him??
Wilder couldn’t get anything prior to his fight with Fury except tomatoe cans, now he’s finished.
Wilder should retire or fight guys like Miller.
AJ made big improvements and beat a tough fighter in style.
The only one who might beat AJ is Fury.
He got smoked by Ruiz. And he is in trouble against anyone with handspeed. Wilder has more. To add to my list I’d include a in shape Ruiz and Ortiz. He will never fight Ortiz. Or Wilder. They are scared.
Ortiz is washed up like Wilder, AJ has Ruizs number now.
Wilder really doesn’t have fast hands, and even if he did, he never throws in combination. You can’t argue that Wilder has more skill than AJ. That’s just a no-brainer. That being said, I’m not sure how he responds when Wilder lands on him.
Wilder is very limited skill wise and always has been. However, aside from being a puncher. He’s a tough dude. He took a beating from Fury, a 275 lb man, and was still as game as they come. I would be really interested in seeing a Joshua Wilder match because they are very stylistically opposed, and it’s easy to envision a scenario where either fighter wins.
Will be interesting to see what match ups happen now seems Fury has Wilders number who has Ortiz checked but Ortiz or Wilder and Fury would take AJ out within 12 but hopefully we will see AJ prove me wrong and step up let’s see how well he would fare in rubber match vs Ruiz actually throwing something like first fight
Predictable
Reminds me more of Frank Bruno every fight!
Great call!!!
Ive thought that for a while, especially once he’s tagged hard, I get Bruno flashbacks, but to be fair to AJ, he’s much more mobile and fluid than Bruno. Bruno only had a plan A, AJ’s got more tricks up his sleeve.
Very strange as they don’t fight the same.
Frank was a sledge hammer ram rod jabber and strong right crosses hooks and upper cuts, but not a natural punch boxer fluid as AJ.
Yeah, stylistically Bruno and Joshua are not the same fighter.. at all. AJ moves with a lot of fluidity for his size. Bruno didn’t use much movement at all and was probably the most rigid heavyweight I’ve ever seen. Plus he was a lot slower and less versatile. I have to admit though. I’m not British, but I was always a huge Bruno fan for some reason. Maybe it was because after so many tries, I really wanted to see him get his hands on a heavyweight belt.
I expected Joshua to win as Pulev is not great but good. It was good to see the Agressiveness come back for Joshua! He definitely is among the best. I think he would be best suited to stay away from Usyk however.
Usyk is just dangerous full stop for anyone.
can imagine him though not having things easy with big Tyson and AJ.
After watching chisora push him around, he wont have a hope with the big boys
He can put down either with his skill level but may have to take licks .
Yeah he’s gotta make drastic changes in his game. The way he fought Chisora depended on so much movement because he was completely outsized. With a better fighter, he can’t possibly move that much and not sit on his shots without it being a bad night for him. Skill-wise he’s among the best, but his style with his size in the heavyweight division is super questionable at this point.
2020 nothing goes right.
🙁
Your man’s heart and chin were admirable, he did the best he could with the tools he’s got. He went down fighting.
Can’t take anything away from a KO win. But I don’t think this guy beats Fury or Wilder. He’s built to beat slow handed strog guys. Ruiz in the same shape would be him as well. He just can’t trade.
Was Wladimir K slow handed?
Nothing impresses me about Joshua. This was a predictable win, and expected not to go the distance. Joshua’s opponent was a 39 year old immobile punching bag. Pulev posed no threat to Joshua in any fashion, and Joshua enjoyed the luxury of dictating when and how this fight would end. Fighting a stationary punching bag, it’s easy to throw hard punches that find their mark, easy to defend, easy to box, easy to coast, easy to rest, easy to load up, and easy to look better than you really are.
Looking better than he really is, is what it’s all about with Joshua. He needs to build the hype, needs people to think he’s a master boxer and a devastating puncher. He needs these types of mediocre, non-threatening mummies as opponents. Not impressed.
Joshua has good solid boxing skills but that chin of his has some fractured glass waiting to be shattered so yes get the fight with Fury asap get paid and avoid the wildman or any heavyweight with 70% KO power
Smart tactics by AJ, boxed very cautiously for 2, then exploded on Pulev in the 3rd. After the 3rd I was hoping for a faster finish, but AJ fought smart (if not exciting) and soften Pulev up for the next few rounds. Knockdown in 9 was well put together and the KO from a fast 1-2 was beautiful.
Pulev’s got a big heart, and his chin is something else, if AJ had that one he’d be very hard to beat.
Sure AJ still looks a bit mechanical, has flaws and looks beatable, but no fighter is perfect. I think Fury beats him, but not sure who else, Wilder has the power and cat like reflexes, but he’s MIA, maybe he’s confidence is shot?
Good performance by Joshua, but Pulev at 39 years old Is not difficult opponent. Fury – Joshua Is a Great fight for the heaviweght division, I think Joshua has his chance but I saw Fury win by decision
From my eyes I saw a improvement in AJ slipping punches and wanting to allow Pulev at times to get close. Pulev is still a strong Eastern European fighter strong and with vast experience never going to be a walk over. AJ confidence came back last night..Tyson better get in with him before he gets better. Mix that power and combos and its 50/50 fight . Wilder did nothing in fight 2 and tried to ambush what he thought was a ill prepared Tyson in fight 1. Wilder was always a use hyped one dimensional fighter..Mark Breland must have gone bald pulling all his hair out with his pupil who refused to adapt or learn from him. Tyson Fury great boxer showman must still do it against AJ in the ring. My son eyes saw AJ as a scared fighter with Pulev offering nothing until the late rounds when Aj allowed him too.
Humphrey, good assessment, AJ made big adjustments from his loss unlike that big loudmouth bum Wilder.
Great tactical win, AJ made some good adjustments from before, not robotic like what all the haters say.
Well done champ!!
This is no accomplishment. The champion should be fighting the BEST! Avoided wilder and ortiz like the plague!! Either would mopped up the floor with AJ.
Pulev “remember who I am”. Not sure what that was all about after the fight but I don’t think anyone will be remembering Pulev except his home country.
exactly after “remember who I am” he said also something about his mother on bulgarian. i cant find video with clear enough audio to able to hear it again. someone should try find such. this guy is such a shame. no respect and he even insulted joshua who cant understand what he said…
You guys can’t spell or write a coherent sentence. It’s shocking.
That Pulev is a top HW shows how weak of a division it is . Pulev has heart and a good chin but his most meaningful punches were illegal rabbit punches. Not sure why AJ was able to land the uppercut so easily, especially with Pulev’s Olympian background. Heck that many uppercuts could even hurt Joe Joyce. Ref was incompetent and fight was supposed to be over when Pulev turned his back in the 3rd.
AJ was exposed by Ruiz. Even though AJ won the rematch we’ve seen AJ’s limit. AJ fights scared now. Theres a difference between boxing and fighting scared. Pulev was younger and better when he fought Klitschko 6 years and was soundly beaten then. Fury will beat AJ. Fury is mentally stronger and a far better boxer.
It was a very non interesting fight. This felt more like a sparring match than anything else. Its nice to see AJ took a couple clean shots and nothing happened. Even the knock downs lacked excitement since they were about overwhelming the other guy and not punches that hurt him. The final knock down was a nice solid shot, but that was about the only clean shot for the fight. AJ throws a nice looking uppercut, but either lacks real one punch KO power or Pulev takes a great shot.
Pulev seemed a little to happy after being plastered into the canvas. Happy to get a paycheck!
Joshua looked better not so robotic
This is more like the A.J. that we are used to seeing. Sure I would lean to Tyson Fury in that matchup but it’s the best HW fight that could be made right now. Would be good to have a undisputed HW champion again. Always liked watching Deontay fight but his actions after the loss gives me less and less belief that his mind and/or body is right for the trilogy at this time. It would be great if they can make the matchup this spring for AJ vs Fury.