10:1 underdog Kubrat Pulev, 39, says he’ll derail plans for an all-British undisputed heavyweight world title showdown between IBF, WBA, WBO ruler Anthony Joshua and undefeated WBC king Tyson Fury.
The former world title challenger (28-1, 14 KOs) arrived in London over the weekend ahead of his second shot at world honors at The SSE Arena, Wembley this Saturday, shown live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and Ireland and on DAZN in the U.S. and more than 200 countries and territories on its just-launched global platform.
Bulgaria’s Pulev says he can see himself exposing the flaws of Joshua in the same manner as Andy Ruiz, who famously dropped the superstar four times on route to a shock seventh round stoppage win at Madison Square Garden in June 2019.
“We see a lot of mistakes from Anthony,” said Pulev. “A lot of bad sides to him. I think these mistakes, and the bad sides, stay. The most important thing is how I perform on Saturday night. When I am good, I beat him well. Right now I feel very good, strong and powerful. I am very strong heading into this fight.
“We will see how Joshua performs. I don’t know what to expect from him. It doesn’t matter to me. For me it’s only important what I do in the ring and how I prepare. How is my strategy? How is my boxing? This is what is important. I will perform very differently because I have a lot of experience from the Klitschko fight. I will be a new Kubrat Pulev.
“This fight is not only for me. This fight isn’t just for boxing. It is for all of Bulgaria. Nobody from my country has ever been heavyweight champion of the world. That’s why it will be so good for my country and my people. Bulgarian fans will be really happy.
“This was my late father’s dream. That is why me and my brother are here. His project was to have sons, and for them to become boxing champions. And we are now real, this is now fact. He looks down from above and I’m sure he’s happy. He wants to win on Saturday night with me.
“I feel healthy and happy. I have a lot of energy. After the fight and after the win, I will be really happy. I think after this fight I’m going to fight with Tyson Fury. It will be good. I don’t believe that the Joshua vs. Fury fight is going to happen because I will win on Saturday night. I think the world needs a new world champion like me. I am the new world champion. I am coming.”
Go Bulgaria!!!
GO as in go away because that is exactly what AJ will do. We will never see him again.
I think maybe this guy still has not woken back up from when Wlad starched him.
I admire the creative post. I do admire Pulev’s confidence, but boy, he has a big hill to climb in this match up. Not many folks having confidence in him to beat AJ based off the betting polls.
The less we can expect from Pulev. Every boxer has the right to expressing his dreams, not matter how low his chances are as an underdog. Boxing needs a person like him as a champion? Nah…
What boxing needs is an impressive win from Joshua, to close the gap for the mega fight against Fury happens.
Let’s go Pulev!!!!
Go Bulgaria!
Hope he wins. I just dont like how he’s getting a pass for getting KO’ed by Ruiz then running from him when he was way out of shape. He fought a lot of the top heavyweights but I think he didn’t redeem himself after that. And for his promoter Hearn to discard Wilder like he’s in the rear of the bus after his loss to fury is laughable. It’s just a way to not have to fight him if he does win against Fury.
Just hope the ref does not spoil the fight in some way.
You mean by actually noticing Pulev’s rabbit punching?
A ribbit punch is potentially so much more dangerous than a low blow, but a low blow is always treated more seriously. Not right.
Very unpredictable this because the fight is in England, and we all know what represents Joshua for them. Pulev better fight clean and controlled, because at 39 he is not longer on his primes.
Fair play to Pulev and I hope AJ isn’t overlooking the task in hand.
Some harsh words from Anthony J and without foundation IMO.
AJ went straight back in with a fighter who just beat him up against opinions from many. Sure AJ didn’t go toe to toe but to get himself down to that shape showed that his game plan was to box and move which many doubted he could do. For me he showed desire to go back in with the same guy who beat him up and discipline to stick to his game plan. Not his fault Ruiz under prepared. The objective was to get the W which is what happened.
Now I rack my brains as to why he’d chase a fight with Wilder at this point. Wilder was beaten up in his last fight so if AJ was to make that fight at this time he’d just be fighting Fury’s leftovers so he’d have very little to gain.
Of course he could rematch Fury and beat him but the way he’s been since the defeat makes me wonder if he even wants the rematch for the redemption reason rather than the bank balance reason. I’m sure if Wilder wanted the rematch to happen for the right reasons we’d have seen it by the end of this year. He kept quiet until Fury had started making other plans.
If Wilder fights/wins the rematch then of course he will be relevant again and (although unlikely) there is that possibility. We must also remember that Hearn was talking about the Wilder fight (expecting him to beat Fury) before he was beaten.
For the record AJ sounds like he isn’t so sure that Fury will be next (assuming he beats Pulev) and Usyk is the most likely opponent. I guess Fury pulling out of his December date where they would have both had tune ups within a week of each other complicates matters.
AJ should wins this one, he’s got the skills and power…. but you never know, as he’s also not got a great chin and once tagged takes a round or 3 to recover.
Should be interesting.
All the haters are out praying for Pulev to win just because their bum squad hero got spanked, lol.
Pulev in 2!
Doubt it. Too old,. Slow, etc..
But hey, lets see it
Who wants to pay to watch boring old fighters like Pulev getting a title shot? Things will get much worse with the new Bridgerweights. The future of boxing will be giant ‘roided Ivan Drago types.
It only takes one good punch to put a man out, so you never know…
That is the motto Wilder believed in for years. Boom (one punch) and it was over! Have a great day today!
When that big punch is easily controlled by skilled opponents, the hevy hitter becomes pedestrian. Before Wilder we had Randall Bailey.
Yes, Bailey was dangerous as a fighter. He had that spontaneous one hit power that would change things in a match up pretty quick.
First off it is not an all British title. Tyson is Irish, not English. If you focus on DNA and not a accent or a mailing address you will understand. It is the same with Joe Calzaghe he’s touted as British the man is Italian, hence his fight name the Italian Dragon and his birth place of Sardinia which is an Italian province. Sorry had to add my Italian and Irish pride here. Can’t argue science all, well at least intelligently that is LOL Enjoy the fight! Merry Christmas everyone.
Paulie, let me educate you on this, both Fury and Calzaghe were born in Britain, Fury was born in Manchester and Calzaghe in west london, so they are british, but yes not english.
Britain is made up of many different ethnicities just like the US.
Umm Tyson held the Irish Heavyweight title.. Tyson says himself he’s from his mother : he’s an Irish Gypsy cashing on the massive British PPV market. We all agree that if he was a criminal and not a heavyweight champion the brit media would refer to him as Irish.
If we think that way, 100% USA most notables athletes are elsewere, but not American. That is why Ali changed his name.
“The world wants a world champ like me.” This guy is so full of it. The world wants a fighter that is exciting and give them their moneys worth. May the best fighter win. We really don’t care about your self-absorbed ego, dude.
Any chance for Pulev to win is slim. He’s a nice guy but to be honest he is not great at anything and loses to top level guys. This guy will not be the type to unseat Joshua.
Im hearing Pulev sound like Rodney Dangerfield, “I’m alright now, but you see me next Saturday night.
In shape Ruiz starches both. Not really an interesting fight.
Go Pulev!! Please get that fraud AJ out of there. At least this guy will actually TRY, and FIGHT!!!