Sparks fly at Anthony Joshua face-off

Former Olympic champion Joshua defends his IBF, WBA and WBO belts at Wembley Arena against the veteran Bulgarian in front of 1000 fans due to coronavirus restrictions.

The fight is being streamed on DAZN in Australia and news.com.au will have live coverage of the event. The fighters are expected to walk to the ring between 8am and 9am AEDT.

The two men have been scheduled to fight twice before but both times the bout was postponed — in 2017 Pulev was injured and COVID-19 put paid to a planned fight in June.

But the 39-year-old, nicknamed “The Cobra”, boasts an impressive 28-1 record — his only defeat came in a world title fight against Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.

He brought that confidence to the face-off at Saturday’s weigh-in, repeatedly telling Joshua he was better than him and promising to show it inside the ring.

It caused the champ to bark back. “Many years I’ve been in boxing and seen a lot fighters talk a lot of rubbish, then they get smacked up,” Joshua told Sky Sports.

“I know what he’s like, I have studied him. He thinks he’s a warrior. I said ‘don’t let the guys you’ve fought gas you up, you’re in with a real one now’.

“When people come in the ring with me they are confident and then after a few rounds their soul gets destroyed. When I see that I can take them out.”

A heavy bump of their fists appeared to be the end of a fiery weigh-in, only for Pulev to state: “Tomorrow I show you buddy. I like you, respect you but tomorrow I show you because I am better than you.”

Pulev tipped the scales at 108kg, three kilos lighter than before his last bout with Rydell Brooker in November 2019.

Joshua was then roundly booed by Pulev’s entourage before he weighed in at 109kg, a kilo more than when he gained revenge on Andy Ruiz Jr in December 2019 to reclaim his titles.

Much of the focus ahead of Saturday has been on a potential “Battle of Britain” between Tyson Fury and Joshua in 2021.

An agreement in principle for Joshua and WBC champion Fury to finally go head-to-head has been in place since earlier this year.

– AFP