Guys usyk is busy with chisora and he doesn’t deserve a title shot off Chazz Witherspoon !! Wbo won’t strip aj at this point so look for aj v pulev in the uk
I'm not sure about the tooth fairy but if these guys are all stiffs then they will more likely be fighting Wilder next up..
I don't know. If Joshua is going to be even more safety first now, Pulev might pose problems. If he wants to have a boxing match with Pulev then that's to Pulev's advantage. Remember Wlad said when this fight was announced before that Pulev has more skill, Joshua more powerful. Of course Pulev is a bit older now. But Joshua is also more cautious. Up until the other day on this forum Joshua was going to get outboxed by Ruiz because Ruiz had so much more experience and skill. Now the gold medallist amateur Pulev, more skilled than jelly belly, can't hang at all with Joshua? I think this fight is interesting just to see what Pulev can do, and particularly now that Joshua is terrified of losing. Obviously Fury/Wilder/Usyk are better fights, but there are going to be inbetweeners.
Hmm? that's why he's fighting Pulev?, he's a prime fighter ? Hearns ain't risking his goose with a wolf.
Pulev as a challenger to Joshua is worthless. I say drop the belt..if he is good enough he can win the vacant against Kownacki, then maybe it's a worthwhile fight. Usyk you can sell. My ideal scenario is Joshua-Whyte with Chisora-Usyk supporting, then see who comes out on top of that. Then again fast Eddie might go for it because he can pay Pulev in Tesco vouchers.
LOL, so basically fighting stiffs and a complete novice at Heavy on UK soil.....yeah what a plan.......this is going to be worse than the K brothers era and I thought that would be difficult to replicate.
All of Wilder's best wins are faded old fighters who weren't as good as Joshua's older opponents (Klit, Povetkin) in first place.
Joshua smokes him, bad. Pulev has no power, so it will look like the Wlad fight. Hopefully this happens for a number of reasons... 1) It's a decent name on AJ's resume 2) Pulev (and Sasha) is from the last generation. So AJ would have cleaned house, effectively. 3) Someone needs to retire Pulev. The man won't face anyone decent, so hopefully he gets removed from the current mix.
Might as well get rid of the old trash mandatory (Pulev) 1st before trying to run the gauntlet of Fury & Wilder with a little bit of Usyk In between.
I see Joshua taking on Pulev in April with Usyk facing Chisora in a PPV fight in Feb or March. Remember, the 180 day mandatory deadline can be extended so long as the fighters are in negotiations for a deal. Then maybe Wembley in August for Joshua vs Usyk. This could change if the Fury/Wilder winners are serious about facing AJ instead.
AJ vs Pulev will be the right fight for Joshua. He need a fight like that to bring his confidence back to 100% level. Pulev will be a good fight for Joshua to shine and KO him in the region of 5-7 round. Pulev has no power, but is decent boxer, so this will be a good match. If Joshua decide to take on Usyk, this will be mistake. Pulev will get a free pass and fight Kownacki and if he win he will keep that belt as a hostage, just like Wilder is doing. If Pulev win the title, he will fight only tomato cans and this is 100% sure. Usyk on the other hand is promoted by Hearn, so it will be easy fight to be arrange. If Joshua needs to drop the title, its best in his interest, to drop WBO belt, not the IBF.
For me this ain't about Pulev, it is about enforcing the mandatory rule. A lot of members on this very forum have been complaining about champions not facing their mandatory challengers and clamoring for the rules to be strictly enforced. In the particular case I could see no valid reason for Joshua to not face Pulev and be forced to drop the IBF belt, especially as there seems to be no Wilder/Fury fight on the horizon.. Joshua himself is already a big draw and this will be a title fight, so a big venue sell out is guaranteed. And Hearns has already shown he knows how to milk big fights, so money should not be an issue here.
