Nigerian-born world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua virtually declared war on his British rival, Tyson Fury, following a dominating performance and ninth round knockout of his latest challenger, Kubrat Pulev.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, right after sending Pulev packing on Saturday night, Joshua said he wants to unify all four world heavyweight boxing titles in an all-British clash with Fury, who holds the World Boxing Council (WAC) belt.
‘AJ’ appeared to get the bragging rights after knocking out Bulgaria’s Pulev at London’s Wembley Arena in front of 1,000 fans, with attendance limited due to coronavirus restrictions.
Joshua ensured there was no repeat of a shock defeat in his first clash with Mexican-American journeyman, Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, and the champ took no chances in sweeping aside 39-year-old Pulev, who had lost just once previously in his career to Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.
It was a different scenario on Saturday, as Pulev was outclassed by Joshua, who could have even had victory wrapped up within three rounds, as his opponent was twice given a count by the referee after he was left flailing on the ropes by an explosive burst of punches.
Joshua dominated and then floored Pulev to score a ninth-round knockout and retain his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles at the SSE Arena, where 1,000 ticket-buying fans were allowed into the building for the first time at a British fight since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Joshua’s entrance was met by a huge roar from the crowd which was topped each of the four times he drove his Bulgarian foe into pain and, after a slow feeling-out process, the champ exploded in the third round with a series of hard shots that earned a standing count.
“AJ” then added a good old-fashioned knockdown before the round was over for the 10-7 frame and, though Pulev was able to shake off the tumultuous stanza and looked to come back into things, he was not good enough to ward off his opponent’s jab, finesse, power and determination.
Three consecutive uppercuts from Joshua hurt Pulev in the seventh but still the tough Bulgarian would not cede ground, and landed his best punch, a straight right hand, in the eighth, but it was not enough.
‘AJ’ closed the show in the ninth with another colossal uppercut which crumpled Pulev to the floor for the second time, as he champ unleashed a series of short uppercuts that put the challenger down once more, before following up with a right hand for his first knockout win since when he sank Alexander Povetkin at the same venue in 2018.
Joshua roared afterwards: “I’m up for anything. Who wants to see Anthony Joshua box Tyson Fury in 2021? I started this game in 2013 and I’ve been chasing the belts ever since. Whoever has got the belt, I would love to compete with them. If that is Tyson Fury then let it be Tyson Fury.”
