Eddie Hearn predicts Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev fight with AJ to put in ‘great performance’ and KO heavyweight rival

3 weeks ago 8

Anthony Joshua returns to the ring on Saturday when he takes on mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev with all his world titles on the line.

The WBO, WBA (super), IBF and IBO heavyweight champion knows that if he can get past Pulev, a massive domestic showdown and, potentially, an undisputed title fight against WBC champion Tyson Fury awaits in 2021.

Joshua vs Pulev is just a few days awayMark Robinson/Matchroom

Pulev has only suffered one defeat in his entire career and that came at the hands of Wladimir Klistchko back in 2014.

There’s no shame in that loss and Pulev has put together eight wins in a row in the following six years.

Can he be the man to scupper the best laid plans for, arguably, the biggest heavyweight title fight of all-time?

Eddie Hearn thinks not. The Matchroom kingpin believes Joshua will land a knockout and win in style.

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“No one really knows what to expect,” Hearn said. “Pulev, you can’t say he’s an unknown quantity because he’s been around for a long time, and he’s been a solid top ten heavyweight guy for years and years.

“He is good and 1,000 fans, do you know what I mean? Everything is a bit weird.

“Normally, we go into an AJ fight week, and you’ve got a sold-out arena, it could be Wembley, it could be wherever.

“I think it’s going to be back and forward for the first five or six rounds, and then I think AJ is going to mark him up and bash him up. I think he’s going to knock him out. It’s going to be a great performance from AJ.

Joshua has two fights with Tyson Fury lined up – as long as he gets past PulevGetty Images - Getty

“This is one of the most important fights I’ve been involved with because we know what’s coming at the end of it. We just got to win on Saturday.

“Everyone is nervous in the camp, AJ included. He feels the pressure, which is great news by the way for him.

“You kind of know what you’re going to get. You’re going to get madness.

“There are nerves for me, for AJ, and for the camp, and I think that’s good. We got a real fight.

Joshua and Pulev were originally due to fight in 2017, but Pulev was replaced by Carlos Takam due to injuryAFP - Getty

“This isn’t a guy that has been hand-picked out of the top 20. This is a guy, if AJ is going to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, he should be beating, and he should be breaking him down and beating him up.

“You will get a masterclass knockout performance from Anthony Joshua on Saturday, and I believe he will, and I believe it’ll be tough. I’d rather not go for a rematch.

“I want to win in style, and then face Tyson Fury. Pulev wants the rematch because he’ll make an absolute fortune like Andy Ruiz.”

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