Kubrat Pulev is enjoying his role as the betting underdog and insists he feels “very dangerous” ahead of his clash with WBA Super, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua at the SSE Arena on Saturday night.
Bookmakers currently list Pulev as a 6-1 outsider and, after looking trim and relaxed during Wednesday’s media workout, the Bulgarian has insisted he is ready to wreck Joshua’s planned unification battle with WBC king Tyson Fury next year.
“A boxer must have power and speed and right now I feel very dangerous,” Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) told The Guardian.
“It will not be an easy fight but we will win it. [Joshua] is a very good fighter, that I respect, but I will show I am the better boxer. Two good fighters means it is a dangerous fight and I like that.
“For me, this is much more important than becoming a champion for the money. This means everything if I achieve it. I don’t think it is my last chance but it is an important moment. The one time I lost [LKO5 vs Klitschko in 2014], I was too young, too green.
“I can do 12 rounds. I could do 20 rounds. I have trained in our mountains that are 2,300m above sea level,” he continued. “I like that people are talking more about Joshua vs Fury than Joshua vs Pulev. It is not insulting to me. Everybody might think heavyweight boxers are dumb but we are smart people. I am happy because, while he is thinking about fighting somebody else, he is underestimating me and the current situation.”
Main image: Mikey Williams/Top Rank.