JOSHUA DOMINATES, STOPS PULEV IN 9 IN SCINTILLATING PERFORMANCE
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 13 Dec 2020
Unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua scored four knockdowns en route to an impressive 9th round knockout victory over Kubrat Pulev to retain his WBA, IBF and WBO titles Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) at Wembly Arena in London.
Joshua, capitalizing on his height and reach advantage, controlled the fight by boxing and moving well as Pulev could not find his way inside to turn the tables around.
In the scintillating third round, Joshua stunned Pulev with a huge short right to the face. Joshua followed it up with a barrage of punches that drove Pulev to the ropes for the count. Joshua, sensing blood, again connected with a barrage of punches sending Pulev crashing to the canvas for the second knockdown. You have to give to the sturdy Bulgarian for weathering the punishment to survive the round.
Somehow Pulev recovered his bearings and was back on his feet and appeared to still be dangerous but Joshua held his peace and did not force the issue, waiting from the wings for the right moment to pounce on his victim again.
That moment came in the 9th round. A succession of lethal uppercuts that hit their marks sent Pulev to the canvas for the third time. Displaying his toughness and never say die attitude, Pulev, with unsteady legs, stood up to beat the count. However a right straight to the jaw dropped Pulev again to finally end the fight. Time: 2:58 of the 9th round.
Afterwards, Joshua called out Tyson Fury without hesitation. "I'm ready to take on anybody whoever has got the belt," Joshua obviously referring to Fury whose got the WBC strap.
Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearns told the ecstatic Wembly crowd that first hour the following day, he will start negotiations for the Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury undisputed fight, arguably the biggest fight in boxing and the biggest fight in the history of British boxing.
Joshua, whose only blemish was a knockout loss against Andy Ruiz which he had avenged, is now 24-1-0, with 22 knockouts. Pulev, suffered the second loss of his career and dropped to 28-2-0, 14KOs.
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