Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev - 12 December 2020

[samwbr]

Joshua needs to fight back in the UK next.

[jameswilson]

Fury v wilder three happens next in the summer regardless of the result

Not if one of them gets absolutely sparked.

Regarding Pulev. He’s a mandatory and let’s be brutally honest, is he actually any worse than Ortiz? People seem to have a hard on for him but who has he ever beat? Pulev v Ortiz would be nigh on a 50/50 fight.
Pretty decent keep busy fight plus takes care of a mandatory doesn’t it? Istanbul is a bit leftfield too!

Yeah Pulev is a handful for everyone bar Usyk, Wilder, Fury and AJ by my reckoning.

I’d love to see the likes of Povetkin, Pulev, Ortiz, Parker, Hunter, Whyte and a few others all fight each other with good camps behind them, I reckon there’s some entertaining scraps in there.

[Finkel]

Instanbul is a really odd one. Perhaps Joshua wants credit for fighting on the road, and sees Pulev as low risk.

Wish he would fight more frequently than once every 6-9 months though.

[Twinkle Toes]

Pulev is made for Joshua. That's my take anyway. I expect a knock out.

[lillywhite14]

Not if one of them gets absolutely sparked.

Regarding Pulev. He’s a mandatory and let’s be brutally honest, is he actually any worse than Ortiz? People seem to have a hard on for him but who has he ever beat? Pulev v Ortiz would be nigh on a 50/50 fight.
Pretty decent keep busy fight plus takes care of a mandatory doesn’t it? Istanbul is a bit leftfield too!

Yeah Pulev is a handful for everyone bar Usyk, Wilder, Fury and AJ by my reckoning.

I’d love to see the likes of Povetkin, Pulev, Ortiz, Parker, Hunter, Whyte and a few others all fight each other with good camps behind them, I reckon there’s some entertaining scraps in there.

A genuine contender might emerge too if he gets a convincing win or two amongst them names

[margaret thatcher]

Fury v wilder three happens next in the summer regardless of the result

Not if one of them gets absolutely sparked.

Regarding Pulev. He’s a mandatory and let’s be brutally honest, is he actually any worse than Ortiz? People seem to have a hard on for him but who has he ever beat? Pulev v Ortiz would be nigh on a 50/50 fight.
Pretty decent keep busy fight plus takes care of a mandatory doesn’t it? Istanbul is a bit leftfield too!

The funny thing about Ortiz fans is how often I've seen them get after guys like Povetkin, Miller, or Whyte for ped use. Um, forgettin someone are we lol

Another funny was when a certain silly here told me Pov's age meant he was shot when he faced Josh, but that Ortiz would have been a really good opponent for AJ. Umm check who is older son

Ortiz is good but the support he gets is a bit cultish and obsessive about everyone supposedly ducking him. This is the same guy who said he wanted to fight AJ any place and any time for any money, then rejected like 7m when offered

[Ruthless-RKO]

IBF Grants Extension As They Continue To Negotiate Deal

Once pressed with the hard choice between which mandatory title challenge to honor first, Anthony Joshua now has until the end of the month to confirm his next step.

A bilateral request to extend negotiations for Joshua’s ordered title defense versus Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev was approved by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), a representative from the New Jersey-based sanctioning body informed BS.com. The two sides now have until January 31—a full 20 days beyond the original January 11 deadline—to come to terms to avoid a scheduled purse bid hearing at IBF headquarters in Springfield, New Jersey.

“Both sides requested an extension because the intervening holidays and vacations delayed our getting the necessary information,” John Wirt, president of Epic Sports and Entertainment—Pulev’s co-promoter along with Top Rank, Inc.—told Boxing Scene on Tuesday. “But we are making huge progress and are presently evaluating offers from a number of different sites.”

[Finkel]

Not if one of them gets absolutely sparked.

Regarding Pulev. He’s a mandatory and let’s be brutally honest, is he actually any worse than Ortiz? People seem to have a hard on for him but who has he ever beat? Pulev v Ortiz would be nigh on a 50/50 fight.
Pretty decent keep busy fight plus takes care of a mandatory doesn’t it? Istanbul is a bit leftfield too!

The funny thing about Ortiz fans is how often I've seen them get after guys like Povetkin, Miller, or Whyte for ped use. Um, forgettin someone are we lol

Another funny was when a certain silly here told me Pov's age meant he was shot when he faced Josh, but that Ortiz would have been a really good opponent for AJ. Umm check who is older son

Ortiz is good but the support he gets is a bit cultish and obsessive about everyone supposedly ducking him. This is the same guy who said he wanted to fight AJ any place and any time for any money, then rejected like 7m when offered

Yeah I think it is fair to say Pulev is lower top 10. Styles make fights, but the manner in which he dealt with mutual opponents in Chisora (Whyte) and Hewie Fury (Parker/Povetkin) clearly marks him just as dangerous as the likes of Ortiz, Povetkin, Parker. Plus Povetkin and Ortiz (!) are in their 40s now and still rated highly by fans.

Having said that I think Klitschko has demonstrated the template for beating Pulev, and I expect a knock out from Joshua. But then again in the Klitschko fight Pulev perhaps knew he wasn't going to be able to compete with Klitschko in the Jab-cross-clinch stakes.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Arsenal Making a Play To Grab Fight From Tottenham

The race to stage Anthony Joshua’s next title defence has become a straight fight between two bitter North London football rivals, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.

With June 13 or 20 the target dates.

With Wembley Stadium unavailable, it had long been accepted that the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which opened last year at a cost of £1 billion and has already staged NFL games, would be the venue, but Hearn said that Arsenal have made a bit to take the fight.

Their ground, the Emirates Stadium, was opened in 2006 but it is about four miles closer to central London. Both have capacities of just over 60,000.

The Emirates Stadium has not had so many non-football events in recent years, but the US band The Killers are due to play there on June 5 and 6, so protection for the pitch will already be in place.

“It’s the North London race for this fight,” Hearn said. “Tottenham is our preference, but we’re talking to Arsenal and they’ve come in and said ‘how do we make this happen?’

“I get the feeling that Arsenal and the Emirates would quite like to nick this. It would be like a little one-upmanship for them.”

Arsenal and Spurs are each other’s biggest rivals and Hearn says competition often spurs others on, adding that after promoting in Saudi Arabia last year, interest was sparked in nearby Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

“Well now it’s like Spurs and Arsenal,” Hearn said. “It’s not been done before at Arsenal, but I don’t see why not.

“The Emirates was such a revolutionary stadium, but almost feels old now. It’s quite interesting.

“If you want to establish yourself as a sports entertainment destination, it’s a pretty big coup to get this fight.”

Hearn said he had plenty of offers to have this fight abroad, but Joshua wanted to box in London.

“Joshua taking a massive pay cut to fight here,” Hearn said. “We’ve had offers from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Middle East, from America and he said ‘no, I want to fight here’.

“It is a big difference fighting abroad. But he just said he’s boxed in the Middle East, he’s boxed in America, we should do this one here and he’s right.”

[THEBUTCH]

June !!! FFS

I think we'll reach a point (after Wilder retires) where heavyweight world champions will really struggle to become "great" champions anymore because they simply won't be able to rack up sufficient world title fights to he considered "great".

Joshua is trying to shoot them down one by one, but would still rather make "even" more millions than fight for a lesser purse 3 or 4 times a year.

Tyson Fury is barely trying at all with just 2 world title fights in over 4 years.

Wilder hasn't done a bad job of things but for all the years he's been a champion the quality of challenger has been very poor, bar a couple of notable exceptions. At least Wilder has shown more willingness to fight more frequently.

[Stuarty]

June !!! FFS

I think we'll reach a point (after Wilder retires) where heavyweight world champions will really struggle to become "great" champions anymore because they simply won't be able to rack up sufficient world title fights to he considered "great".

Joshua is trying to shoot them down one by one, but would still rather make "even" more millions than fight for a lesser purse 3 or 4 times a year.

Tyson Fury is barely trying at all with just 2 world title fights in over 4 years.

Wilder hasn't done a bad job of things but for all the years he's been a champion the quality of challenger has been very poor, bar a couple of notable exceptions. At least Wilder has shown more willingness to fight more frequently.

It's bullsh1t mate. It's because every big fight is an 'event' now and it probably takes about 3/4/5 months planning etc...

[margaret thatcher]

The 'stars' rarely do more than 2 a year these days

[Finkel]

It's worse because he is prime age and holds three belts and is fighting less frequently than a late 30s Klitschko!

In fact he is fighting the least frequently of all the unified HW champions going back to at least the 80s.

You could excuse it if he had delays due to frequent injuries...

[Finkel]

The 'stars' rarely do more than 2 a year these days

There is a difference between rarely and never

Since his 'star turn' against Klitschko he has fought with a gap of:
6mth - Takam (IBF)
6mth - Parker (WBO)
6mth - Povetkin (WBA)
9mth - Ruiz Jr. (Coming to America)
6mth - Ruiz Jr. (Oil Money Rematch)
7mth? - Pulev (IBF)

[Ruthless-RKO]

Hearn confirmed that Joshua-Pulev will take place June 20 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a new soccer venue in London.

[THEBUTCH]

I like the fight, but still stewing about June ! Should be April at the latest.

Anyhow, in 4 months we'll have a decent fight on our hands

[margaret thatcher]

Will get AJ a refreshing KO

[Boxerbeetle]

Hearn confirmed that Joshua-Pulev will take place June 20 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a new soccer venue in London.

A new soccer venue in London? Thanks for that

[samwbr]

Haha

[oogiebe]

Hearn confirmed that Joshua-Pulev will take place June 20 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a new soccer venue in London.

A new soccer venue in London? Thanks for that

LOL! It says the capacity is 62,303. Wonder what the capacity is for a boxing match.

[skanksta]

Hearn confirmed that Joshua-Pulev will take place June 20 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a new soccer venue in London.

So, that’s what this “Tottenham Hotspur Stadium” I keep hearing about is.

[Spiker]

It’s about time top fighters stopped taking these voluntary defences. Pulev won’t win sod the belts if your the best fighter the public will know who you are. Pulev is a waste of money and non PPV

[margaret thatcher]

It’s about time top fighters stopped taking these voluntary defences. Pulev won’t win sod the belts if your the best fighter the public will know who you are. Pulev is a waste of money and non PPV

It's a mandatory

[Spiker]

Sorry yes I meant mandatory.

[Ezzard]

6 months gives them time to recuperate. Hit the PEDs and then get them out of your system by fight time, allowing you the chance to get the benefits without getting your collar felt. Mayweather had it off to a fine art...don't pick your opponent until the very last moment denying them the chance to do the same.