Kubrat Pulev’s manager senses Anthony Joshua and his team realize that the Bulgarian challenger is a very dangerous opponent.
Pulev is 39, but he has lost only to Wladimir Klitschko, who knocked him out in the fifth round 5½ years ago in Hamburg, Germany. Pulev, who was the mandatory challenger for Klitschko’s IBF heavyweight title, has won eight straight fights since Klitschko knocked him out and is again the IBF’s mandatory contender, this time for Joshua’s belt.
“They know this is a serious fight and quite honestly, Kubrat seems to think that AJ is very afraid of him, and that’s why it’s taking so long,” Ivaylo Gotzev, Pulev’s manager, told Sky Sports. “I happen to agree.”
England’s Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) and Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) were scheduled to fight June 20 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Their 12-round fight for Joshua’s IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, has yet to reschedule it because it is not the type of fight that can be staged without fans in attendance. Hearn wants to keep the event in the United Kingdom, but the British government will not allow crowds at sporting events until further notice.
Gotzev has had discussions with Hearn and investors that want to bring Joshua-Pulev to Pula Arena, an amphitheater in Pula, Croatia. Hearn also has revealed a plan to bring that heavyweight title fight to Royal Albert Hall in London, where Hearn would charge high ticket prices to a small amount of fans to help recoup some of the ticket revenue Joshua-Pulev would’ve generated if it were held at a packed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Whenever and wherever they fight, Gotzev says Pulev will give Joshua a rematch after Pulev upsets the 2012 Olympic gold medalist. Contracts for matches mandated by sanctioning organizations typically don’t allow rematch clauses.
The 30-year-old Joshua had a rematch clause in his contract when he fought Andy Ruiz Jr., an optional opponent, a year ago at Madison Square Garden in New York. Joshua, whom Ruiz floored four times and stopped in the seventh round, regained his titles by out-boxing Ruiz (33-2, 22 KOs) and winning a 12-round unanimous decision in their immediate rematch December 7 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
“Yeah, we’ll give it to him, just like he did with Ruiz,” Gotzev said. “But I can assure one thing – Kubrat is going to be ready for the rematch as well. He’s not going to let himself go like Ruiz did, for whatever reasons. I mean that wasn’t serious. Kubrat is a serious contender, he’s a number one contender, the mandatory contender. He got there by blood, sweat and tears, and he’s legitimate. He is the biggest fight of AJ’s career right now, coming up.
“Once again, AJ did not impress in his last performance. The first fight he looked like a deer in the headlights, and in the second one he ran like a deer.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
