By Geno McGahee
The IBF/WBO/WBA heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, 24-1, 22 KO’s, used a hybrid style, mixing the style we saw against Andy Ruiz in the rematch, where he worked behind a jab and the style that we are used to, the fun actively punching knockout specialist. Kubrat Pulev, 28-2, 14 KO’s, never found any answers in this fight. He followed Joshua around the ring and would pay as he came in with the champion’s jabs and right hands.
In the third round, Joshua would score two knockdowns and it looked over. Pulev is a tough guy and was able to hang in there and rebound, but he never got any offense going. Joshua played it safe and picked his spots and found the mark again in round 9, dropping Pulev twice and ending the fight.
After the fight, Tyson Fury, the WBC champion, called out Joshua for an all British heavyweight unification but it’s not certain that Joshua wants to fight him. There’s much easier prey out there and it’s safe to say that Joshua has ducked opponents before. He refused to fight Deontay Wilder and with Fury being a strategic master in the ring, he might want to feast on easier opponents. We will see how it plays out.
