Anthony Joshua defends his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles against Kubrat Pulev at The SSE Arena in Wembley tonight, live on Sky Sports Box Office
Saturday 12 December 2020 23:10, UK
Anthony Joshua is targeting Tyson Fury, but how could he rebuild from a stunning loss to Kubrat Pulev? The Panel have given their verdict.
Britain's WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belt holder faces Pulev tonight, live on Sky Sports Box Office, with Joshua hoping to stay on course for an undisputed world title clash against WBC champion Fury.
But what does the future hold for Joshua if he suffers a stunning upset loss to Pulev?
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I am still not 100 per cent sure if Joshua has fully recovered from his first loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. I need to see a good performance. If he loses to Pulev, his confidence is going to be totally shattered.
I'm not even thinking about defeat as an option. I want AJ to win so bad.
Of course he can come again, he's young enough, but it would put a shadow over the Tyson Fury fight. I'm not even thinking about defeat as an option. I want AJ to win so bad, to go in there and do the business and look good doing it.
Of course he could rebuild and come back. He's done it before and I'm sure he could do it again. But as for the Tyson Fury fight, that's not going to happen then, because the shine has gone off it.
If he loses to Pulev, I don't think it would be the same shock as we had with Ruiz Jr. Against Ruiz, nobody thought that was happening.
Pulev has only lost one fight, he's the mandatory challenger. It's a tricky fight, especially when there is so much riding on it. But the experience from the Ruiz Jr fight will hold AJ in good stead. He won't make that mistake again.
Defeat would make Joshua's task even harder, because you would have hoped he learnt his lesson from the last mistake in the Ruiz Jr fight. To me it's unthinkable, because it then puts him among the rest of the other heavyweights that are below him. Back in the queue with everybody else.
It would make it so much tougher to finally get the Tyson Fury fight. Fury is classed as the best in the world, because of his last performance, and it would make any future negotiations a lot, lot harder.
It just depends how he lost. If he lost in similar fashion like he lost to Ruiz Jr, then it would be hard to recover. If it was a really hard fight and he came second best, that would be another matter. When you lose at this level, you have to take a bit of building back.
It's all about lessons and learning. Hopefully he's learned from that defeat to Ruiz Jr.
Pulev is no pushover, he's a serious threat, and he's really up for this fight. He always trains hard and he's a good technician as well. A very good jab, he's awkward, so it's going to be a very good fight, I'm looking forward to it.
I think Joshua has learned his lesson well. He's learned to box more, not just rely on power. It's all about lessons and learning. Hopefully he's learned from that defeat to Ruiz Jr.
There would be a rematch clause on this fight, because it's a mandatory, I'm guessing. Joshua would have to go off and rebuild. But if you lose two fights unexpectedly against people you are supposed to beat, then you begin to wonder whether the person is as good as you thought.
When it happens once, you can say, 'This is heavyweight boxing.' Lennox Lewis, it happened twice, but there was a long time between each one. It cannot happen twice in the space of 18 months, and people then say, 'It's one of those things'.
I don't think it will happen though.
It would be really difficult to rebuild, because AJ is the golden goose. That's the bottom line, AJ is the man, he is the one that everyone wants to fight. It wouldn't be impossible, but it would be a major blow.
In that division at the moment we have got so many good heavyweights. All these fights are competitive and as we saw with Dillian Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin, one shot can turn it all around.
Obviously it would be a massive setback, but knowing AJ and speaking to him, I don't think it would spell the end if that happens.
Watch Joshua vs Pulev on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Box Office, from 6pm. Book it via your Sky remote or book it online here. Even if you aren't a Sky TV subscriber you can book and watch it here.
