Joshua Retains Against Pulev

It has been over a year since we last saw Anthony Joshua in the ring. He walked in the Wembley Arena squared circle Saturday night and walked out victorious, stopping mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev in nine rounds live on DAZN in the United States and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.

Joshua  (24-1, 22 KOs) in this contest started off firing on all cylinders against Pulev (28-2, 14 KOs), and it was pretty much a fight that he had a little trouble with over the course of nine rounds.

So much so, Pulev was knocked down four times overall in the fight, the last one a picture-perfect right. The same type of punch that didn’t miss for most of the fight after Joshua had knocked Pulev down twice in the third round.

It looked like it might be over early in that third, when the 29 year old Joshua used the uppercuts first to cause Pulev to turn his back on him in a corner. After a standing eight count, Joshua dropped him with a couple of more uppercuts with still over 40 seconds left in the round.

Pulev rose wearily and was probably a solid punch or two from the fight being stopped, but to veteran Pulev’s credit he held and survived.

One takeaway from this fight that was surprising is that it went over the expected six and a half rounds against the 39-year-old Pulev.

What helped Pulev as time went on was the fact he was clinching and constantly rabbited, punching through much of the fight. By the tail end of this fight, there was little doubt that Pulev had less than a puncher’s chance in this contest.

ANTHONY JOSHUA. BOOM. pic.twitter.com/I5T8H8aplR

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) December 12, 2020

After the fight, the conversation switched to the future and the the much-anticipated mega-fight against WBC champ, Tyson Fury. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn stated we’ll wait and see when that fight takes place. The two sides have reportedly already agreed to a 2021 Undisputed battle with a rematch clause.

Meanwhile, on Tyson Fury’s side, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum stated immediately after the fight that they would begin the conversation of talks starting Monday via Twitter.

It looks like the stage is set for the biggest Heavyweight championship fight since Ali-Frazier in 1971, when @Tyson_Fury meets @anthonyfjoshua for the undisputed crown.

We at Top Rank will start on Monday working to put that fight together.

— Bob Arum (@BobArum) December 12, 2020

And Fury was on board as well, pretty much saying he’ll smoke Joshua in 2-3 rounds as well.

.@anthonyfjoshua it’s a matter of time….. ⏰ ⏰ ⏰ I’ll spank you like I did @BronzeBomber 2/3 rounds. #YOUBUMSOSER #letsgetiton pic.twitter.com/7m8A8Je0ui

— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) December 12, 2020

While we’ll see what shakes out with Tyson Fury as he may have mediation to deal with from Deontay Wilder to answer for first, this fight for the undisputed heavyweight champion is now one step closer to becoming a reality than fantasy booking.