By Ciaran O’Malley: Eddie Hearn has mapped out a three fight plan for current IBF and WBA world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, which over the next twelve months which will see Joshua defending his belts in mandatory fights that have been ordered both governing bodies and then leaving the possibility of a “super-fight” next summer.
By Scott Gilfoid: IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (19-0, 19 KOs) has three potentially difficult fights ahead of him against Kubrat Pulev, Luis Ortiz and Deontay Wilder. The plan is for Joshua, 27, to fight all three of them consecutively without any breaks in between to fight softer opponents. It could be bad for Joshua. One of those three could deal him his first defeat.
By Scott Gilfoid: Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn sounded bummed out on Thursday in talking about Wladimir Klitschko’s decision to retire from boxing instead of continuing on for one last fight against Joshua. Having to fight Pulev instead of Klitschko is a huge buzz-kill for the 27-year-old Joshua. He doesn’t get a chance to show that he’s a better fighter than the one that was decked by Wladimir last April. It’s got to be tough for Joshua. Wladimir lost the fight, but ultimately came out of the fight with more respect from the boxing fans.
By Jeff Aranow: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn says his fighter IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua could wind up vacating one of his titles if a fight that one of the sanctioning bodies orders him to take isn’t one that the boxing public is particularly interested in seeing.
By Jim Dower: Heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev (25-1, 13 KOs) defeated 37-year-old former world title challenger Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson (30-8-1, 14 KOs) by an ugly foul plagued 12 round unanimous decision on Friday night at the Armeec Arena in Sofia, Bulgaria. The 35-year-old Pulev got away with an awful lot of fouls in the fight as far as holding and hitting and rabbit punches. Pulev will now fight the the winner of Klitschko – Joshua, according to Kalle Sauerland
Kevin Johnson (30-7-1, 14 KOs) says he will break Kubrat Pulev (24-1, 13 KOs) down and make him quit when they meet for the WBA Intercontinental Heavyweight title on Friday night at the Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria.
‘’Pulev doesn’t scare me,’’ said the American heavyweight. ‘’He’s a cartoon character. He might look serious but that’s because he’s an ugly dude, and ugly people always look serious. Whereas, people like me always have a smile on their face. It is what it is. I can smile in person and I can whoop a** in the ring.
Kubrat Pulev (24-1, 13 KOs) and Kevin Johnson (30-7-1, 14 KOs) came face-to-face at a press conference today at the Hotel Marinela in Sofia ahead of their WBA Intercontinental Heavyweight title clash on Friday night at the Arena Armeec.
Pulev makes the first defence of the WBA strap he claimed with a third-round stoppage victory over former World Champion Samuel Peter in December, and also risks his IBF mandatory position, which would see him in line to face the winner of Saturday’s World title showdown between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko.
Kubrat Pulev (24-1, 13 KOs) will defend his WBA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship against former World title challenger Kevin ‘Kingpin’ Johnson (30-7-1, 14 KOs) on Friday, April 28 at the Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Pulev made a triumphant homecoming on December 3, 2016, fighting for the first time in his home country, and forcing former WBC World Champion Samuel Peter to retire after three rounds in front of a capacity crowd of 15,000 Bulgarian fans.
By Jeff Aranow: If everything goes right for IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs) in his fight against Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) on April 29, he could be facing his IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev (24-1, 13 KOs) in the summer time in the UK. Pulev recently beat Samuel Peter and Dereck Chisora to put himself in the lead position for a title shot against Joshua.
Eddie Hearn, the promoter for Joshua, thinks it’s possible for the 27-year-old Joshua to fight Wladimir, Pulev and WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder all in 2017. That would be a big year for Joshua if he can take all of those fights. For all intents and purposes, Joshua would clear out the heavyweight division if he can beat those three heavyweights next year.
By Eric Baldwin: Former heavyweight world title challenger Kubrat Pulev (24-1, 13 KOs) defeated former WBC heavyweight title challenger Samuel Peter (36-5, 9 KOs) by a 4th round TKO to win the vacant WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title on Saturday night in a mismatch in front of 15,000 boxing fans at the Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The fight was stopped after round three after the badly out of shape looking Peter appeared to hurt his right arm while throwing a wild shot. Peter bent over the ropes after the round ended. He appeared to be in pain and was leaning towards his right side, as it to show that he had hurt his right arm. Moments later, the fight was halted by the referee.
It’s just as well. The fight was a mismatch, as Peter was slow, fat and missing badly with every punch he threw. It was target practice for the 6’4 ½” Pulev, who jabbed Peter nonstop in rounds one through three. It was too easy for Pulev.