Unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua mixed power and patience as he knocked out Kubrat Pulev to bolster hopes that a historic fight against Tyson Fury could soon be a reality.
The British heavyweight drilled his mandatory challenger to the canvas twice in round three in a chaotic flurry that saw Pulev smiling while under attack and turning his back when under fire, only to somehow make the bell.
Joshua, perhaps fatigued by the chaos, stepped off the gas and allowed Pulev to at least offer some mild threat, but a barrage of uppercuts in the ninth dropped Pulev and a straight right hand wiped him out seconds later.
The 1,000 fans granted access to Wembley Arena saw a blend of the boxing skills and crushing punches that have helped build Joshua into the attraction he is.
[Source: BBC]
Bout breakdown;
IT'S OVER! AJ KNOCKS OUT PULEV in Round 9
After Pulev answered the first knockdown in the tenth, Joshua then threw a single, nasty shot Pulev's way and put him to bed for good. And Pulev STILL tried getting up!
Another knockdown!!
Joshua batters Pulev to the ground with a flurry of shots!
Peter Fury comments from ringside
“Kubrat Pulev is only in this fight because AJ is allowing him to be.
“He needs to double up on his jabs, he's waiting too long and allowing Pulev every chance.
“He could end this whenever he wants to, but he needs to step on the gas.”
Round 8
Pulev landed a sweet right hand on Joshua straight after the ref had admonished the pair, but Joshua answered back with a pair of body hooks to show he was game.
Joshua has been working the body with jabs this round and when Pulev wants to lunge in to prevent it, AJ wants that uppercut again. Pulev can't slip Joshua's work right now and is coming at the champion straight on. That seems to suit AJ and he's doing the cleaner work. Pulev isn't doing enough to turn the tide here.
Joshua's work to the body won that round.
Pulev is committed to stepping into Joshua's space, there is no question he's going all out to win this fight. Joshua is doing successful work from range but when the pair collided inside around 90 seconds into the round, Joshua hit that trademark uppercut again.
Joshua laid in a serious flurry and really planted his feet for a flurry to the body half-way through the round. Again, Pulev smiled as he emerged from the shots.
Pulev was landing the better jabs towards the end of the round, but Joshua seemed content to see the round out.
Round 6
Pulev is looking for his lead left-hook and the follow-up right hand time and time again. To this point, AJ is dealing with it very well and has only really been caught once, and even then he wasn't overly bothered by it.
Still, Pulev has recovered well from the third-round onslaught and the fight is beginning to get scrappy and a bit of a war – exactly what Pulev would be hoping for.
Joshua is moving well around the ring and landed some solid jabs in this round, but it was uneventful compared to the previous few. Both men shot each other smiles at the end of the round again – the egos here are strong!
Round 5
Joshua is engaging Pulev more than he did the previous round, but he remains steady in his plan to dictate from the outside.
Joshua exploded with a quality jab as we entered the final minute of the ring and it sent Pulev back a few yards. He is LASER focused on getting Pulev's respect here and in fairness to Pulev, many heavyweights would have been gone from these shots by now.
About 30 seconds later, Pulev actually landed his best shot of the fight with a right hook in close and Joshua fired a smile straight back at the challenger. When the bell rang for the end of the round, Pulev smiled, letting Joshua know he's in this fight.
Pulev's chin
How Pulev survived that uppercut that put him down for the second time we'll never know. That uppercut was the same kind of level as what AJ caught Wladimir Klitschko with!
Round 4
Joshua comes out for the fourth going back to his swift jabs and sticking to his game plan, but he showed he's ready to explode when he sees that opening.
Pulev is sticking with Joshua here and he's throwing hooks aplenty. Pulev seems to have his legs back and his head cleared. The Bulgarian just wants to get close to Joshua and has almost accepted defeat in the jab war, but Joshua knows Pulev is dangerous inside and is still managing that distance.
Seems like maybe Joshua regained his wind in that round, but he still probably won it.
Round 3
Unbelieveable scenes in the third round and Pulev only just survives a huge AJ onsluaght!
Pulev came out for the third more active than he was in the first two round, but Joshua lands a one-two for the first meaningful shot of the round. Then Joshua landed uppercut after uppercut to compliment his overhand rights and Pulev couldn't live with him.
Pulev hit Joshua after the bell went to close the round and smiled. Almost to say it'll take more than that to get rid of me and he did show a great chin, but wow… he's lucky to still be in there.
It's a second knockdown!
Joshua looks amazing here! He's not letting the Bulgarian breathe and puts him down with a right hand again!
Pulev answers the count somehow and finishes the round! What a round!
It's a knockdown!!!
Pulev gets a standing count as he actively runs away from Joshua! He didn't want any of Joshua's power as the uppercuts came raining down!
Joshua hurts him!
The SSE Arena erupts as Joshua staggers the Bulgarian!
Round 2
The battle of the jabs continued at the start of the second round and it's not making for the most exciting fight. Both men are exerting patience, but Joshua appears to have the most penetrating jab.
Joshua throws his first combo of the fight and shows great hand speed half way through the round to go upstairs and then work the body. Pulev just smiled, but all he's been able to answer with at the moment is wild swings.
AJ seems to be controlling the distance. Things will get interesting when either man decides to double up on the jab. By virtue of a little more work, AJ probably takes the round.
The pair share words at the end of the round once again and Joshua turns around to get in Pulev's face, but they are broken up! Pulev is certainly trying to get in Joshua's head, but he hasn't done it in the ring yet.
Round 1
Both men showed a lot of respect for each other in the early exchanges and it was clear that both men wanted to establish their jabs.
Both men were cagey in the opening round, both very cautious to get too close to the other. AJ and Pulev both clearly favour doing their work from range and were offering the other to make the first move.
Lots of single punches in this round. Nobody really managed to get anything special in, but Joshua perhaps had the snappier jab out of the two. Very quiet, tight opening round.
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