How is he tailor made for Joshua and Breazeale wasn't? (LOL) Pulev moves and jabs and works angles, at least. Was Breazeale a young slickster? (LOL) Seems like you guys really want to use Pulev as a signature win for Joshua, yet, when asked to pick how the fight goes, you give him less hope than anyone I can recall Joshua fighting in years. Takam (Pulev's late sub last time) got a stronger push before the Joshua fight, if I'm not mistaken.
Well, the fight will show us one way or the other. Breazeale was always crap anyway. Puleve used to be okay (many years ago) but he's old and crap now. So it's not even worth arguing about. Both are crap. No, it's the opposite. I reckon it's a fairly meaningless win for Joshua, and while Pulev has no real hope, Joshua isn't good enough to merit 100% confidence. Make no mistake, Pulev is shot and crap now. But Joshua's flakey, fragile at times. So it wouldn't really shock me if Pulev pulled the upset.
I dont give pulev a change against Joshua but i wouldn't give prime ortiz a chance either; he never was or isnt much better that pulev. Luis ortiz's best win was against bryant jennings in 2015 and wilder fought him 3 years later. Luis ortiz has been declining since that 2015 bout and he was old regardles and in addition to that wilder almost lost to the guy in the 7th round but got saved by the bell. Joshua wanted to fight pulev before but he pulled out of the fight twice.
You "really" want to talk about Deontay Wilder in the Joshua-Pulev thread, don't you? (LOL) I know Wilder is more interesting, but there are plenty of Wilder threads. I started this because no one was talking about Joshua-Pulev. So let's talk about them here.
I don't think Pulev is shot or crap. And I don't think he's "tailor made" for Joshua, whatever that means. (you never explained it). Breazeale stood right in front of Joshua and Joshua just launched away. Pulev doesn't just stand in front of anyone and let them slug away. And it's not like Joshua has fought an assortment of movers with a strong jab. In fact, Pulev might be the first. Also, Pulev doesn't go down a lot (right)? I think it'll be a competitive fight. I'm looking forward to seeing how Joshua fights. Last time out, he fought like a coward. But if Pulev is jabbing and moving, maybe that'll make Joshua become more aggressive. That's when he's at his best. Joshua has a lot to prove to me. Spitting out his mouthpiece and quitting against a bloated late sub isn't something he'll live down for a while. And he certainly didn't live it down in his last fight. Though some want to pretend he did.
I mentioned him because we were talking about ortiz and because hes overrated in this forum. But yeah joshuas going to take him out in rounds 4-6 because pulev has a decent chin. But then again joshua said he wanted to go for the knock out and break his soul so pulev might be gone in 2
I don't think AJ is gun shy per se post Ruiz 1. He tagged Ruiz with a beautiful straight right down the pipe in round 1 or 2 (second fight) and split the eyebrow. You could almost see it took all his discipline that would have been drilled into him in camp to not follow it up as he would have liked to. Essentially, I think his natural instincts are to go for the kill. He needs to find a balance between attack and defence. whilst he is finding it he will continue to look incredibly robotic. This fight will will inform his progress!
I don't think anyone is trying to use Pulev as a signature win for Joshua, it's a mandatory, it is what it is. I get you wanna s**t all over Joshua as you see him as some sort of rival to Wilder but come on dude, hell, Pulev would probably be Wilders second best win. It's a mandatory.
This train of thought is a perfect example of people wanting it both ways. Kubrat Pulev defeated Sam Peter. Sam Peter (who had Wlad on the deck three times) from 15 years ago would be Joshua's second best win. Sam Peter when he quit on the stool against Pulev four fights ago would NOT be Joshua's second best win. If the 2020 version of Kubrat Pulev is a "bad mandatory" with zero chance against Joshua (who was dropped four times and quit against freaking Andy Ruiz just last year) then Pulev would be a "bad mandatory" with zero chance against Wilder. If he's just "shot and crap now" as more than one person described him, then that's it. Again, this isn't about Wilder (I know EVERYONE wants to talk about him). Let's keep this thread about Joshua and Pulev. Please. They never fought Wilder, so he has nothing to do with the discussion of this fight.
Sometimes I feel like you guys have only seen Andy Ruiz in the first Joshua fight. Andy Ruiz in the second Joshua fight IS Andy Ruiz. Watch his other fights and watch the second Joshua fight ... that IS Andy Ruiz. Andy Ruiz loses to everyone you named. He had one good night in his career. That's about it. I'd certainly rate Pulev and everyone else above him. That's how bad of a loss that Ruiz fight was. People seem to really want to drag Pulev through the mud in this thread, too. So I will do a little dragging myself. No matter how uninspired Pulev may have looked last year in his previous two fights, he wasn't crawling around the deck four times and spitting out his mouthpiece against a fat late sub.
Two things strike me about this fight. 1 Pulev has nothing to lose so can be considered dangerous on that alone. 2. Joshua to me is still damaged goods. I don't think he fully exercised the Ruiz loss in the rematch and psychologically he must still be fragile. You don't get over that kind of ko loss in one fight whoever you are. So Pulev has a shot to nothing and will up his game. I'm expecting to see the best ever Pulev even at 39.
I hope we see the best Pulev possible. This is his last shot. And, stylistically, it is a good matchup. I always root for an exciting fight, no matter who it is. Although, with no crowd and a lot of these "bubble fighters" just falling down and taking the money, I'm gun shy about predicting any fights. Seems like it's easier for some to treat these fights like sparring sessions when there isn't an actual crowd around. That said, the only one of the two with a history of falling down and quitting is Joshua, so, who knows. (LOL)
