With a little over 1,000 people in attendance to watch the fight, WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight ruler Anthony Joshua will step back into the ring this Saturday night, live on DAZN.
Out for over a year and just one win removed from his shocker of a stoppage loss to Andy Ruiz, AJ avenging the loss in his last fight, Joshua is, ideally, one win away from a massive, monster super fight with Tyson Fury.
All that stands in his way, ideally, is Bulgarian tough guy Kubrat Pulev, the man who says he will “expose” Joshua, that the British star does not have the mental strength to defeat him. This Saturday’s fight is a potential banana skin, for sure.
Joshua, 23-1(21) may well be carrying some ring rust into the fight, and he might be looking past Pulev, towards either the massive fight with Fury or to a WBO mandatory defense against Oleksandr Usyk.
On the other hand, Pulev, 28-1(14) may well be carrying some rust himself; the 39-year-old has not seen action for 13 months. And that number does stick out a little – 39, Pulev’s age. At almost 40, eight years older than Joshua, will Pulev have the speed, the reflexes, and the stamina to beat AJ?
Bob Arum says yes. In fact, the Top Rank boss has never backed down from his prediction of how Pulev will not only win but will do so by KO. Arum has been saying this for the longest time. And in a recent interview with the Betway Insider Blog, Arum stated how it would be Pulev’s “ability to corner Joshua” that will see the Bulgarian “Cobra” to victory.
“It’s one thing to box and run around the ring, making out you’re the second coming of Muhammad Ali when you’re fighting a fat, obese Andy Ruiz,” Arum said, quite unflinchingly.
“But it’s going to be a different story when you’re fighting a fit and ready Pulev, who’s in great shape and a good boxer. Pulev has the ability to corner Joshua and to take him out, so I believe not only is Pulev going to win the fight, but he’s going to win it by knockout.
I’m not a fool; I’m talking about what I’ve seen – I saw Anthony Joshua got knocked on his ass and thoroughly beaten not so long ago.”
Some people agree with Arum; the same ones who feel Joshua’s revenge win over Ruiz, who did indeed set foot into the ring in Saudi Arabia when “fat and obese” proved almost nothing.
These fans argue how Joshua’s suspect chin has not been tested in a hard fight since that June evening in New York when Ruiz lived up to his “Destroyer” nickname and ruined him in those seven rounds.
It might be a genuine factor in Saturday’s fight, and a quite obvious one: how will Joshua’s chin hold up if and when Pulev hits it? One thing is certain: Pulev WILL be in completely better physical and mental condition compared to the last man to have shared the ring with the always in shape Joshua.
Pulev fights at a steady pace, so unless Joshua – who his critics say has a stamina issue to go right along with his shaky chin – can set a rapid pace that takes Pulev out of his game, it seems unlikely the older man will run out of gas.
And of course, if AJ does come out of the blocks at a rapid rate, he will run the risk of blowing a gasket and fading himself.
Instead, look for a cautious start from both men, as they size each other up and pay one another mutual respect. A long, testing fight, testing for both men, will then unfold. Can Pulev set traps and get Joshua to fall into them?
Will Joshua’s power break the older man down? Will the lack of the kind of huge live crowd he is accustomed to fighting in front of bother Joshua, if he needs a lift during the action, perhaps?
There are plenty of questions going into this fight, that’s for sure. Some fans have flat-out called this fight a mismatch, in Joshua’s favor. This seems kind of strange, especially when we consider Pulev’s pedigree and the fact that, at age 39, he knows this will likely be his last chance to become heavyweight champion. Pulev is a dangerous challenger for Joshua; on that score, Arum is bang on the money.
Whether or not Pulev will make Arum’s prediction a sound one remains to be seen. But ask yourself this – would you be terribly shocked and stunned if Pulev did leave London, England, with the three belts this weekend?
