{"id":8245,"date":"2020-12-10T21:56:42","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T22:56:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=8245"},"modified":"2020-12-10T23:56:39","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T23:56:39","slug":"one-man-stands-between-joshua-and-boxing-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=8245","title":{"rendered":"One man stands between Joshua and boxing history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Joshua<\/a> has never been so close to a shot at being the undisputed world heavyweight champion.<\/p>\n

The WBA, IBF, WBO belts are back in his possession. An agreement in principle has been reached with Tyson Fury<\/a>, the WBC champion, for a two-fight deal in 2021 to unify the titles<\/a> in an all-British blockbuster.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nothing is ever straightforward in boxing \u2014 especially when arranging what would be one of the biggest fights in a generation, perhaps the biggest ever in Britain \u2014 but it appears there\u2019s one major obstacle in the way of an eagerly awaited Joshua-Fury bout next year.<\/p>\n

Kubrat Pulev.<\/p>\n

A robust, hardened 39-year-old Bulgarian, Pulev will get the chance to blow a turbulent heavyweight division wide open again when he fights Joshua at Wembley Arena in London on Saturday as a mandatory challenger.<\/p>\n

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It will be his second world title fight \u2014 he lost to Wladimir Klitschko in 2014 for what remains his only professional defeat \u2014 and a belated shot at Joshua, having been forced to pull out of a 2017 fight against the Briton after sustaining a shoulder injury late in his training camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like that people are talking more about Joshua vs. Fury than Joshua vs. Pulev,\u201d said Pulev, who is a 7-1 underdog with some British bookmakers. \u201cIt is not insulting to me \u2026 I am happy because while he is thinking about fighting somebody else, he is underestimating me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Joshua is insisting he is not looking beyond his immediate opponent, and that he is answering any questions about Fury only as a matter of courtesy, but there\u2019s no doubt Saturday\u2019s fight takes place in that bigger context.<\/p>\n

Joshua\u2019s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has been freely discussing the proposed meeting of Joshua and Fury \u2014 for which financial details have been agreed but official contracts have not been signed. Hearn has talked about how the purse will be split, possible locations for the fight \u2014 the Middle East or London appear favorites \u2014 and how it is the fight all boxing fans have been waiting for.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI am as close to 100% as I can be that the Fury fight will happen if AJ wins on Saturday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hearn just needs his main man to do the business before the first crowd to attend a British boxing fight during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Joshua has become used to selling out Britain\u2019s biggest sports venues \u2014 Wembley Stadium in London, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff \u2014 but only 1,000 fans will be allowed in Wembley Arena for his first home fight since knocking out Alexander Povetkin in September 2018.<\/p>\n

Since then he has lost his titles in shocking fashion to Andy Ruiz Jr., before immediately regaining them in a money-spinning rematch in Saudi Arabia a year ago that reportedly earned Joshua $70 million.<\/p>\n

During his 12 months away from competitive boxing because of the pandemic, Joshua said he has \u201choned his craft,\u201d returning again to developing his ability to show the \u201csweet science\u201d of the sport. Ahead of Pulev, he has taken some advice from Klitschko \u2014 he has even started wrapping his hands methodically before workouts like the long-time heavyweight champion from Ukraine used to do.<\/p>\n

Joshua has described Pulev, who is known for having a relentless jab and a tough chin, as a \u201ctricky customer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not going to be an easy fight, it\u2019s a banana skin,\u201d Joshua said. \u201cI\u2019m at a level now where I can\u2019t take easy fights or warmup fights. I\u2019ve got to roll with the punches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the fight I want. I\u2019d rather have a nice warmup fight before because I\u2019ve been out of the game for a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old Joshua was once regarded as a knockout machine \u2014 the first 18 fights of his pro career didn't go beyond seven rounds and he got off the canvas to knock out Klitschko in the 19th \u2014 but he has met craftier opponents and become more measured and disciplined in his approach to recent fights, picking his moments to attack.<\/p>\n

Two of his last three wins, against Joseph Parker and Ruiz Jr., went to the judges. Against Ruiz Jr. in Saudi, Joshua relied on his longer reach to stay clear of trouble and was almost running around the ring away from the American in the final round with victory in the bag.<\/p>\n

So, what version of Joshua will we see on Saturday?<\/p>\n

\u201cI'm prepared for it to go to the final bell,\u201d Joshua said in Thursday's pre-fight news conference. "I feel like I'm a 15-round fighter, not a 12-round fighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it needs to go to 12 rounds, I will be more than capable to carry my stamina, to carry my boxing IQ, my concentration and my strength to the final bell."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anthony Joshua has never been so close to a shot at being the undisputed world heavyweight champion. The WBA, IBF, WBO belts are back in […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8245"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8245"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8247,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8245\/revisions\/8247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}