Anthony Joshua knocked out Kubrat Pulev with a vicious right hand in round nine to retain his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO World Heavyweight titles.
The unified world champion, who had not fought competitively since defeating Andy Ruiz Jr to regain his belts in December 2019, returned to England to fight in front of 1000 fans inside Wembley Arena.
Following his victory, Joshua refused to get carried away with talks about a fight against WBC World Heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury. He said: “It’s not about the opponent, it’s about whoever has got the belt, it’s about the legacy and the belt, whoever’s got the belt I’d love to compete with them.”
“If that is Tyson Fury then let it be Tyson Fury, it’s not about the road to undisputed for me, it’s about the road to my next fight, that is what I’ve got to stay focused on.”
Joshua began the fight cautiously, and first let his hands go in the second round, with a flurry of hooks all of which were comfortably blocked by the Bulgarian triggering a smug smile from the 39-year-old challenger.
However, the smile was soon wiped off Pulev’s face in the third round, with a stiff right hand from Joshua breaking through the guard of the Bulgarian and forcing the referee to initiate a standing count.
The British fighter proceeded to come forward with Pulev rocked and he managed to knock down the mandatory challenger with a powerful uppercut – a replica of the punch that won him the fight against Wladamir Klitschko in 2017.
Pulev, whose only previous career defeat came against Klitschko, somehow managed to survive round three and after throwing a punch after the bell he stumbled into his corner to recover.
Joshua mocked the Bulgarian in the fourth round with his iconic ‘tongue-out’ taunt but learned from his mistake in his defeat to Ruiz, remaining wary of his opponent’s threat having been wounded.
Pulev showed great resilience to remain in the fight and keep pushing forward looking to deal damage of his own, however his wild swings were nullified in clinches by the Brit, resulting in the fight becoming scrappier.
The 31-year-old made the most of fighting on the inside and landed three consecutive upper-cuts in the seventh, yet the Bulgarian still refused to be beaten and continued to push forward.
Pulev’s persistent aggression saw him land his most significant punch of the fight. a straight right hand, in the eighth round forcing Joshua to use his range to keep the challenger at bay.
The Brit eventually finished the fight in the ninth round after landing another ferocious upper cut that knocked the Bulgarian to the floor.
Pulev rose again but this time Joshua managed to close the fight with a straight right of his own, crumbling the IBF mandatory challenger with a lip-busting blow.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn has insisted he will begin to work on striking a deal with the fellow Brit Tyson Fury, to ensure the undisputed title fight between the two fighters takes place in 2021.
By San Rahman
