Pulev admitted that he is in talks with Ruiz Jr for a fight in November in Vegas. He is the mandatory @ IBF so he has his right. If both sides fail to make an agreement and Ruiz prefers to make a rematch with Joshua, Pulev said that he is going to fight the second on the IBF list - Kabayel.
I have little appetite for this fight, doesn't appeal to me at all. But the thought crossed my mind that maybe Hearn might allow that fight to happen so AJ doesn't have to worry about it in the event he can defeat Ruiz in a rematch. More a nuisance fight for AJ and Hearn than anything. I'm not totally confident AJ beats RuizJr in a rematch but if he were to defeat him Hearn would be chomping at the bit to get the cash out Wilder or Fury fight done before the soft mandible of Joshua betrays him again.
Waste of time thread. Fight Pulev for 5 dollars or 5 million for Joshua ? Joshua has a rematch clause ,no fight is possible beyond that bc Joshua is excercising ( not physically) his right to which he has 30 days anyway.
Bad style match up for Ruiz. I’m not big on Pulev, but I could see him getting a sloppy decision over Ruiz.
Not a great style for Ruiz to fight like @Jackomano stated, but I still think Andy could pull it out, his parrying and counter punches skills are good enough to catch and counter Kubrat enough to make him apprehensive to throw, and keep his hands at home, then he can work those old ribs of his, and chop him down, eventually landing overhands at will, and score a late TKO stoppage around the 9th or 10th. That being said I'd prefer this one be held in the states. If he doesn't score the stoppage, it might be close enough to rob him in Bulgaria.
I think that AJ and Ruiz Jr will have a rematch later this year in nowhere but the UK. However, IBF have a strong policy against rematches. Fury was stripped of the IBF title for his decision to fight Wladimir Klitschko in a rematch. The fight that didn't come to fruition but Fury was stripped. Based on that I think Ruiz Jr will be rather stripped than defending that title against AJ. This scenario opens up a possibility for Pulev to fight for vacated IBF title. I guess we will hear from IBF soon.
Obviuosly this is Pulev's team plan. They hope that Ruiz vacates the belt (as he most certainly will) and they will fight Kabayel so as to finally make Kubrat a world champion and secure big unification bouts. I am familiar with both fighters so i would say that Pulev - Kabayel would be a really interesting and quite even fight. Don't care about how one rates them, it will be a worthy fight for one of the heavyweight belts.