By Jeff Aranow: IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (19-0, 19 KOs) is reportedly close to having a deal done to defend against his #1 IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev (25-1, 13 KOs) for October 28, according to RingTV.com.
The deal is said to be near done for a fight between the two towering heavyweights in England. This is the first of two mandatory defenses the 27-year-old Joshua needs to get out of the way before he can get to the more lucrative fights against talents like WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder, Andre “SOG” Ward and WBO champion Joseph Parker.
Joshua’s second mandatory defense is against undefeated #1 WBA Luis “King Kong” Ortiz. That fight will be taking place in early 2018, barring any injuries for the two fighters. Ortiz, 38, is going to sit patiently and wait for his turn at the 6’5” Joshua, who is coming off of an exciting war with Wladimir Klitschko on April 29.
Joshua won the fight by an 11th round TKO, but he didn’t look nearly as impressive beating Wladimir as Tyson Fury did in 2015. Wladimir exposed some huge holes in Joshua’s game that other contenders like Pulev and Ortiz will be looking to take advantage of. If those 2 fighters don’t follow the Wladimir blueprint, then surely Deontay will be looking to take advantage of the flaws in Joshua’s game that were revealed.
Pulev, a 2008 Olympian from Bulgaria, is getting up there in age at 36-years-old. He’s got to take advantage of this world title shot he’s getting against Joshua. Pulev failed in his previous world title challenger against Wladimir in 2014 in losing by a 5th round knockout. Pulev tasted the canvas repeatedly before the fight was halted in the 5th round on November 15, 2014. That fight was not the best of news for Pulev’s boxing fans, as he showed that he was a sucker for a left hook.
Wladimir couldn’t miss with his left hooks. He was seemingly hitting Pulev every time with that punch, and knocking him over like a tall 6’4 ½” bowling pin. It was too easy for Wladimir. Since that defeat, Pulev has won his last 5 fights. However, only one of Pulev’s opponents was what you would call a world class guy in Dereck Chisora.
The 33-year-old Chisora is still technically a fringe contender at this point in his career. Pulev beat Chisora by a 12 round split decision last year on May 7. Pulev’s other wins in the last 2 years have come against journeyman Kevin Johnson, Samuel Peter, Maurice Harris and George Arias.
Pulev has a great jab and good size to give Joshua some problems. But I don’t see the fight going well for Pulev, because he doesn’t have enough punching power or mobility to keep Joshua honest. You’ve got to be able to move around the ring, and swat hard to keep Joshua off of you. Pulev is missing in both of those areas.