Unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua KOed a madly game Kubrat Pulev in nine compelling rounds on Saturday night to pave the way for a titanic showdown against WBC king Tyson Fury in 2021.
In a four-knockdown show at the SSE Arena, Joshua displayed a clinical shot selection, flooring Pulev two times in the third, where the Bulgarian did tremendously well to survive a feverish onslaught, and twice in the fateful ninth. One thousand socially-distanced fans roared their approval.
Afterwards the drum began to beat for a long-awaited Fury-Joshua clash next year.
“It looks like the stage is set for the biggest heavyweight championship fight since Ali-Frazier in 1971 when Tyson Fury meets Anthony Joshua for the undisputed crown,” tweeted Fury’s US promoter Bob Arum. “We at Top Rank will start on Monday working to put that fight together.”
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn also stated his intention to get the mega-fight over the line. “Starting from tomorrow, we’re trying to make the Fury fight straight away. It’s the biggest fight in British boxing history. He’ll break Fury down and knock him out. We’ll get it done,” said Hearn.
Wherever your allegiance lies, one hopes boxing politics and/or greed don’t scupper the fight all of boxing deserves. The sport has a tendency to shoot itself in the foot so nothing can be taken for granted despite the removal of IBF mandatory Pulev and another obstacle to Fury-Joshua.
Joshua wouldn’t be drawn on whether Fury would be next, preferring to concentrate on one fight at a time.
“I started this game in 2013. I’ve been chasing all the belts. I’ve been dealing with mandatories,” AJ told Sky Sports.
“Of course, I want the challenge. It’s not about the opponent, it’s about the legacy and the belt. Whoever has got the belt, I would love to compete with them. If that is Tyson Fury, let it be Tyson Fury. It’s no big deal.
“It’s one fight at a time, picking them off one by one. That’s all it’s about for me. I’ve got to stay focused.”
The WBA Super, WBO and IBF champion largely impressed in his first fight since reclaiming his titles from former conqueror Andy Ruiz in December 2019.
After winning a battle of the jabs in the opener, Joshua stunned Pulev with a right uppercut in the second after a swift volley of punches. The challenger grinned, but Joshua was mastering the range and menacing with the right hand.
Pulev (28-2, 14 KOs) grinned maniacally in their exchanges in the third, but the psychological warfare didn’t put a dent in the champion. The challenger was rocked by a right hand and, after being stung by a series of crunching right uppercuts, turned away from the fray before he was dropped with a looping right to the body whilst facing out of the corner.
Photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing.
Referee Deon Dwarte could have stopped the fight after Pulev turned his back, but he gave the Bulgarian every opportunity to survive. When Joshua unloaded and dropped Pulev again with another right uppercut, the end seemed nigh, but the challenger somehow fiddled his way to the end of the round.
Always in control, Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) took a little breather as the dogged Pulev held firm, roughing him up with rabbit punches and surviving by any means necessary. The Bulgarian threatened with the right hand and one wondered what thoughts were flowing through Joshua’s mind as Pulev shrugged off his best shots. But Joshua retained his poise and found that second wind, reeling off successive right uppercuts in the seventh though Pulev’s right remained a danger.
Then, in the ninth, Joshua closed the show in brutal fashion. He dropped Pulev for a third official knockdown after a series of brutal right uppercuts before finishing the Bulgarian challenger immediately after the fight’s resumption with a flush right hand.
Now the boxing world awaits Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. Boxing can’t mess this one up – can it?
Photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing.
On a threadbare pay-per-view undercard, cruiserweight contender Lawrence Okolie was a rare shining light, shrugging off the disappointment of his postponed vacant WBO title fight against Krzysztof Glowacki with a conclusive second-round knockout of previously unbeaten Pole Nikodem Jezewski.
Glowacki withdrew after testing positive for Covid-19, with that fight rearranged for early 2021, and it would have been easy for Londoner Okolie to fight flat and uninterested. Instead, he was explosive on the front foot and a potential test of his mental strength became mere target practice.
A right hand steadied Jezewski (19-1-1, 9 KOs and 1 NC) early and set the tone. The Pole was dropped soon afterwards with a body shot by the ropes, but survived. Every time Okolie landed a right hand, the Pole’s body wobbled alarmingly as if stunned by a sudden electric shock. He was dropped by another right hand but somehow heard the bell after a torrid opening session.
In the second, Okolie (15-0, 12 KOs) finished matters when he drilled Jezewski with a hefty right hand and the Pole dropped to the deck. He rose again, but referee Phil Edwards rightly waved it off.
“I’m really happy,” said Okolie. “I was in the back room thinking I’m really calm and chilled. I just went out there to try and execute what I do every day in the gym. I really came out of the cage. I’m happy to get the win. I’ll have to watch it back, but from the reaction ringside, it seems like it was good. It’s what we’ve been working on. I do it every day in training. It’s about taking it from training to the fight. If I’m able to do what I’m doing in training in my next fight, I’ll be a world champion. I’m excited.
“He was undefeated and he was in shape preparing to fight. It was a risk, he had the world at this feet. It felt like a normal show, even with everyone spread out. It felt good. I’m really excited to watch it all back. That’s five stoppages on the trot. I’m feeling good and I want to keep the KO run going. It was good to shake out and make the weight. I had a good training camp and we’ll just build off that for the next one.”
A horrific cut over the left eye threatened to bring a premature end to Hughie Fury’s clash with heavyweight gatekeeper Mariusz Wach but masterful cutman Kerry Kayes kept the Mancunian’s injury under control as he cantered to a clear points win over the Polish veteran. Scores were 100-90 (twice) and 99-91.
In a raw and scrappy encounter, Fury (25-3, 14 KOs) buzzed Wach in the fourth and went for broke, but the Pole wouldn’t bend. Heads clashed in the fourth leaving Fury with a gaping cut, changing the course of the contest. The Mancunian had been uncharacteristically aggressive until that point before reverting to his natural boxing after the injury.
Fury looked more fluid thereafter, switching stances and using his natural range to riddle Wach (36-7, 19 KOs) with stiff blows in a solid workout that never really set the pulses raising.
“Everything is moving in the right direction,” said Fury afterwards. “I did rush my work a little bit. I was hurting Wach with the right hand. I was getting to him. As I threw the right hand in the fourth there was a clash of the heads as he came in. I couldn’t see out of the eye at all. I went back into the corner and my dad told me to get back to my boxing. Wach is a tough man. We just relaxed and flowed back into it, and picked him off.
“I don’t have any doubt in Kerry Kayes. He’s a guardian angel. As soon as I got back to my corner he got to work. He deserves all of the credit in the world. I’ve been in with everyone and, to be honest with you, I was like a boy against men. Now I’m a man people can see a big difference and I’m coming. This is just the start. People will see a lot more to come from me.”
In a battle of Michael Hunter victims and fringe contenders, Martin Bakole’s extra speed and slickness saw him home against stiff-hitting Russian Sergey Kuzmin in a heavyweight 10-rounder. Scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94.
Bakole (16-1, 12 KOs) started brightly but shipped a big right hand in the opener. It was bombs away in the second as Bakole stunned Kuzmin with a series of clubbing right hands before the Russian blasted back with his own artillery. They traded heavy left hooks and a knockout seemed inevitable. A more prudent Bakole controlled the third behind the jab, but a firefight broke out again in the fifth with a surging Kuzmin sitting down on his punches before the Congolese flurried back.
They couldn’t sustain that intensity. Bakole was faster, busier but Kuzmin (15-2, 11 KOs & 1 NC) seemed to hold the heavier hands. Going into the last, Bakole appeared to have the edge. Kuzmin detonated a huge right hand, early in the 10th, but Bakole demonstrated a solid chin throughout. One sensed Kuzmin needed a big bomb to turn the tables. He may have edged the last, but it wasn’t enough.
“I want to thank god for this big victory,” said Bakole. “To be honest, I’m not happy. I didn’t work the way I was supposed to work. I [only] did three weeks in the gym. We kept that a secret. I was not 100% fit. I won the belt and I’m now WBC International champion. It was a tough fight. If you look at round two, I was close to knocking him out. He survived because he’s a big guy. I needed to win this belt for my baby. I’m ready now. I’m in the top 10. I’m ready to face anybody. I’m going to see my family and then come back quickly to get in the gym to prepare for next year.
“I want anyone. I’m ready to face anyone. I’m not in this business to play around. I’m in this business to win and I have a belt now. I told Michael Hunter to watch this fight. My next one is going to be him! Michael Hunter, look at my eyes; let’s do it again. This time I will beat him, believe me. I made a mistake, and now I’ve fixed my mistakes. I’m improving, and he can see that himself.”
Meanwhile, Northampton’s Kieron Conway (16-1-1, 3 KOs) was too smooth for Wythenshawe’s plucky late sub Macaulay McGowan (14-2-1, 3 KOs) winning a landslide points verdict in a 154lbs 10-rounder. Scores were 100-89 (twice) and 100-90.
Former British title challenger Conway is a skilful operator and simply broke down McGowan with his superior accuracy and a snapping left lead. Conway’s excellent jab was a prominent weapon throughout, but a pumped-up McGowan applied steady pressure and stayed in contention in the first half of the fight.
Yet the cleaner, crisper work always emanated from the fists of the Northampton man. Gradually, Conway’s more precise punches took their toll and, when he cranked up the pressure in the eighth, a busted-up McGowan was dropped by a left hook. He rose bloody but unbowed yet was starting to take too much punishment. He held firm though to finish the fight on his feet. Conway might feel a little bit disappointed not to have forced the stoppage.
‘Albanian King’ Florian Marku (7-0-1, 5 KOs) was held to a surprise draw on his promotional debut for Matchroom Boxing by Longton’s late sub Jamie Stewart (2-0-1, 0 KOs) in a brisk welterweight eight-rounder. Referee Marcus McDonnell scored 76-76. Marku could not hide his disgust at the decision and seemed to have done enough with his more effective, early pressure, having scored a knockdown in the third with a left hook body shot. The neat-boxing Stewart regrouped well after the knockdown and certainly narrowed the gap, but sole arbiter McDonnell apparently scored 4-3-1 in rounds to the visiting fighter.
Rio Olympian Qais Ashfaq (9-1, 4 KOs) bounced back from his first career loss against Marc Leach in October in the best manner possible, dropping Bristol’s former Commonwealth champion Ashley Lane (14-10-2, 1 KO) twice en route to a fourth-round stoppage in the super-bantamweight show-opener. Lane was down in the first and third before referee Marcus McDonnell’s intervention in round four.
Main image and all photos: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing.