By Bary Holbrook: Eddie Hearn is hoping that Anthony Joshua will get a chance to “Wow” the boxing fans viewing his title defense against Kubat Pulev on Saturday night by showing off all the things he’s learned recently.
Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) is in excellent shape, looking lighter than his last two fights against Rydell Booker and Bogdan Dinu.
The lighter weight for Pulev suggests that he’s going to push a fast pace and look to wear the heavily muscled Joshua out.
Joshua, 30, needs to perform more excitingly against the 39-year-old Puleve than he did in his last fight against Andy Ruiz Jr last December, as he put a lot of fans asleep.
AJ used his new Wladimir Klitschko, which involved a lot of jabbing, holding, and moving to beat Ruiz.
Hearn acknowledges Pulev being overlooked
“They’re always going to talk about it because it’s the biggest fight,” said Hearn to IFL TV. “You know when AJ fought Andy Ruiz, he went into ESPN and they had him for ten minutes, not once did they ask him about Andy Ruiz.
“They just talked about Deontay Wilder. He came out and said, ‘They didn’t even ask me about Andy Ruiz.’ That’s how much they expected him to blow through Andy Ruiz, and they expect him to blow through Kubrat Pulev.
“Kubrat Pulev is a top-five, top ten heavyweight, he’s a mandatory challenger, and he’s very good. It ain’t going to be easy, and it’s going to be a great fight. I’m nervous,” said Hearn.
It hasn’t helped that Hearn has spent much of the build-up to the Joshua vs. Pulev fight talking about Tyson Fury at every opportunity. It almost looks like Joshua is fighting Fury, not Pulev.
Hearn knows what he’s doing in choosing to talk up the Joshua-Fury fight because that’s the one that fans are looking forward to.
Pulev is seen as another sacrificial lamb for Joshua to slaughter. As such, he’s being overlooked by Hearn, AJ, and the boxing public.
Eddie hopes Joshua gives a ‘Wow’ performance
“I’m probably less nervous as we go on because he’s getting better and better,” Hearn continued. “When he fought Klitschko, he didn’t know what he was doing.
“He had 15 fights; he was a complete novice. Even when he fought Povetkin, Parker, and all these guys, he was a novice.
“It was only until he got out to Saudi, he had learned so much about the game. Now, I feel like he’s the best heavyweight in the world.
“He’s to the point where he’s 20% before he gets to his optimum, but he’s so good. I hope we can see a performance where everyone goes, ‘Wow,'” said Hearn.
If Hearn is serious about wanting Joshua to ‘Wow’ the fans, he needs to let him know to scrap the Klitschko fighting style he’s been using and go back to his old way of fighting.