Anthony Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) was able to put away IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) in the ninth round to defend his WBO, IBF, and WBA heavyweight titles in front of 1,000 very loud and enthusiastic fans at The SSE Arena in London, England.
Joshua floored Pulev twice in round three and from there the fight did get a bit ugly, in large part due to Pulev’s incessant and largely unpunished rabbit punching.
ANTHONY JOSHUA. BOOM. pic.twitter.com/I5T8H8aplR
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) December 12, 2020
Joshua’s jab was put to good use throughout the evening, but it was his vicious power punching ability that sealed the deal. Huge uppercuts from AJ in the ninth had Pulev on skates and eventually down.
Pulev beat the count, but he wouldn’t on the ensuing right hand that had him sprawling on the canvas. The referee, who didn’t need to count to ten, counted anyway and that was that.
Anthony Joshua literally hit Pulev with four straight uppercuts. 😳 pic.twitter.com/bF6Jecayst
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) December 12, 2020
