Yes, that's true, with the expected result here we'll see Pulev and one of Ortiz and Ruiz eliminated from the title picture permanently. Or should.
And Pulev was scheduled to fight Joshua 3 years ago, but the fight goes off, because Pulev injured his chest or something like that. He was mandatory back then. After that IBF ordered Pulev vs Whyte and as i said and you comfortably miss Whyte walked away from that fight, and Hughie comes as a replacement for that mandatory spot. Still Pulev in his prime(he is far from it now) was very decent opposition. But the guy earn his spot and his only loss is against Klitschko. I`m not saying he is some monster, but the guy earned his spot. Its not his problem 2 or 3 fighters decide to dodge him, because he was dangerous and not a big money fight.
I disagree for the reasons given, so agree to disagree. But it's not Johann Duhaupas/Chris Arreola territory, there we are in accord.
Pulev should not fight he has no chance anyway, we know he is convinced he can beat Joshua and that is okay but still his chances are minimal...
I can't see Joshua stopping Pulev early like Wlad did. That version would have stopped Ruiz too, in my opinion. The bodybuilder will have to take this one seriously, and come in light again. Or there could be another upset coming. Pulev is a very good boxer. Anyone thinks Joshua will be able to outbox him like Ruiz, are mistaken.
I agree, and wish more fighters would fight 3 times a year in their prime (particularly if dealing with ostensibly more straightforward mandatories as opposed to 50-50 mega scraps), but he's been on a 2 fights a year cycle a little while now and unlikely to change back to fighting more frequently, I guess. Are there any recent examples of top fighters increasing their activity level significantly after going down to 2 fights annually, out of interest?
As far as i know its maybe the Pulev camp that doesn`t want the fight to be early. If its Hearn, yeah this is bad and useless. The fight should have happen March or April, at worst early May, yet what we get is June 20th .... That is exact 6 months pause from his last fight. I also think top fighter should fight more regularly. Maybe not every year to have 3 fights, but some years if they have easier opponents and the scheduled is good. 3-4-5 months between fights is all good. More than that i don`t think so.
Pulev might not be so easy to take out. He took a lot of flush bombs from Wlad before getting finished. And he was fighting almost bizarrely reckless there.
I'd actually be more impressed if the bodybuilder out boxes Pulev over the 12 rounds. I think Joshua would actually benefit keeping himself leaner and going back to the boxing style he used in the Olympics. Light and agile.
Agreed ,but joshua has a lot of room for improvement if he wants to go down that route. I'm not saying he will ever get even near to Usyks level of technical ability but the step & bang approach is no good if your a bit cautious & can get rocked pretty badly as Ruiz showed us is easily possible. I guess what I am saying is Joshua should try to emulate Lennox Lewis's style of boxing , trouble is Joshua ain't no Lennox Lewis...
Pulev is a top HW, with one of the best resumes of an active HW. Consider who Pulev beat and the times he beat them Skelton Guinn Dimitrenko Sprott Thompson Ustinov H Fury Chisora Add in also Peter, Johnson and some other fair names I could mention For a fighter with under 30 fights, that isn't bad at all.
Ive always wanted to watch this fight to see how Joshua deals with Pulev's jab. It can get tiring trying to box past a long / stiff jab and Pulev overall is experienced and tricky to deal with. There's worse fights that could be made before the big one with Usyk.
This fight should have happened years ago. Waiting helped Joshua as Pulev is now 38 years old. One of things I don't like about the top talents is they wait for their competition to age, then take the fight when its suits them best as the top talents are still in their prime. IMO Joshua waited for Povetkin to age and was in some trouble in that fight. Povetkin was 39 for Joshua. If Povetkin was 2-3 year younger, who knows. Joshua will have to switch his tactics up a bit, as Pulev even in his older age can box. If Joshua isn't in shape, or plays it too safe, losing a decision or setting for a close win on the cards is possible. Since Pulev has won 8 fights in a row vs reasonably good competition this is a legit title defense in my opinion. Boxing needs the winner of Fury vs Wilder to fight Joshua. It that doesn't happen, the past 5 years will have no defined champion.
