Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev – Preview & Prediction

Unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will look to defend his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO titles against his mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, England.

With odds to win at -1100, Joshua is undoubtedly the favourite, but that was also very much the case going into his first fight against Andy Ruiz and we all know how that turned out.”

On the flip side, Pulev is priced at +650 to pull off the upset. It would be foolish to write off the Bulgarian who has picked up several high-profile wins against British fighters through the years, most notably outpointing Hughie Fury and Dereck Chisora over 12 rounds.

The favorite – Anthony Joshua

Joshua has established himself as one of the best heavyweight fighters on the planet. Pulev is all that stands in the way of ‘AJ’ and a lucrative, history-making fight with WBC titleholder Tyson Fury, which is already agreed for 2021.

On his way up Joshua looked phenomenal, dispatching of all who stood in front of him. The Olympic gold medallist was somewhat rushed to world level but again proved himself by wiping out Charles Martin. He passed his acid test by taking out Wladimir Klitschko in one of the all-time great heavyweight fights.

Since then he has looked a bit lacklustre, almost fearful of losing his titles. In fights against Joseph Parker and Carlos Takam, Joshua failed to really let his hands go. The 31-year-old managed to stop Alexander Povetkin but not before eating a ton of shots in the opening few rounds.

The worst happened when Joshua fought late-notice opponent Andy Ruiz last year. After starting well and dropping his man the British puncher was caught coming in and never recovered – ultimately getting stopped inside seven rounds. In a rematch, Joshua boxed his way to victory and regained his titles but it was nothing like vintage ‘AJ’ who was always looking for the finish.

So, the question is will prime Joshua show up on Saturday night?

The Underdog – Kubrat Pulev

Pulev has enjoyed a long and impressive career but the heavyweight title has always eluded him. The 39-year-old holds several high profiles wins over the likes of Fury and Chisora, who we mentioned earlier as well as Kevin Johnson, Samuel Peter, Tony Thompson, Alexander Ustinov and Alexander Dimitrenko.

Although all these wins are impressive, there is a very clear lack to elite level victories on Pulev’s resume. The one time he stepped up to face truly world class opposition he was easily dealt with. Wladimir Klitschko who wasn’t necessarily known as a prolific finisher needed just five rounds to take out Pulev when the pair squared off back in 2014.

The question now is, six years and eight fights later, has Pulev improved?

Prediction

We at Boxingdaily.com are expecting Anthony Joshua to look spectacular in victory against Kubrat Pulev tomorrow night. Despite noting earlier that ‘AJ’ has been unconvincing as of late, we believe the vicious knockout artist will re-emerge with devastating consequences against Pulev and there’s a couple of reasons for this.

Firstly, we think Joshua will be very happy to be competing in front of a hometown crowd once again – it really has been a while. There will only be 1000 people in attendance but that’s more than enough to help Joshua in this fight.

The worst has already happened to Joshua. He was knocked out by an overweight man who no-one gave a chance. ‘AJ’ was able to overcome that defeat and win back his belts. A devastating loss can be the end of a fighter *cough* Deontay Wilder *cough*. Joshua by bouncing back has shown what he is about, and we expect this fight to be a showcase for Anthony Joshua 2.0.

Finally, the opponent. Pulev is a good but aging fighter. In our opinion, he certainly hasn’t gotten better since being wiped out by Klitschko all those years ago. Also, his level of opposition does not compare to Joshua’s over the past few years.

Joshua predicted a finish between rounds 7-9. We at Boxing Daily think he’ll get it done a little bit earlier by taking out Pulev inside six rounds on Saturday night.