2 weeks ago
1 Tony Bellew has told talkSPORT that he thinks Anthony Joshua will knock Kubrat Pulev out between rounds four and six on Saturday night.
The former WBC cruiserweight champion is looking forward to watching AJ defend his WBA, IBF and WBO belts against his mandatory challenger on Saturday night in London, and is expecting a dramatic finish.
Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev is finally going to happen this SaturdayMark Robinson/Matchroom
However, Bellew is refusing to write off Pulev.
He told the talkSPORT Breakfast: “You always have to take into consideration these heavyweights.
“Believe you me, this fella has an amateur pedigree far better than Andy Ruiz.
“Kubrat Pulev was an outstanding amateur. I was in the European Championships with him in Bulgaria and he’s a superstar in Bulgaria.
“I’d say the only bigger name than him in the whole of Bulgaria is Dimitar Berbatov. He’s just a megastar.
Bellew won the WBC cruiserweight title in 2016Getty
“He’s coming to win. He is a really good fighter – very, very powerful with the right hand.
“AJ’s just better than him in every department for me. I just think the speed will be too much and he will catch up with him pretty quickly.
“He’s just got to be vary careful of getting into exchanges in the first couple of rounds – that’s the only chance Pulev stands is them first couple of rounds.
“But, as I say, AJ’s quicker, he’s more powerful, he’s more explosive. I can only see an AJ knockout between four and six rounds.”
Bellew previously likened Joshua to Tyson in terms of speed and combination punching
Back in October, Bellew went as far as to make a big claim about Joshua when speaking to talkSPORT.
He said: “AJ’s the fastest combination puncher in the heavyweight division since Mike Tyson.
“No-one throws punches in combinations with the speed, power and ferocity that AJ does.
“As I said, he’s got six rounds to do it against Fury. If them six rounds go past then I don’t see anybody beating Tyson Fury after six rounds.”
English (United States)