Chinny & flawed
Arum slams AJ and says his ‘big heavyweight’ will knock out world champ
ANTHONY JOSHUA has been branded “flawed” and “chinny” by Kubrat Pulev’s promoter Bob Arum.
Arum has dismissed Joshua and feels the WBA Super, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion lacks confidence because of his shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Junior in June 2019.
The Top Rank chief feels his man Pulev can expose Joshua’s suspect chin and knock him out tomorrow. Arum said: “Joshua is a flawed fighter.
“The fact that he got knocked out by Andy Ruiz, who is not a big knockout guy, and then in the rematch he beat Ruiz by outboxing him.
“But Ruiz was in no kind of shape. He was obese, he didn’t train, he’d celebrated too much.
“And yet Joshua didn’t go after him to knock him out to avenge that defeat. That indicates to me that Joshua’s lacking confidence.
“Pulev is a big strong guy, a no-nonsense guy and he’s going to go after Joshua and I believe he will knock him out.
“He’s not a Deontay Wilder with a one-punch knockout, but he is a big, strong physical guy. I believe Joshua’s chin is suspect.
“Look at a lot of Joshua’s fights, look at the Klitschko one. That wasn’t a prime Klitschko, this was a Klitschko at the end of his career and he almost had Joshua out of there.
“You look at a lot of Joshua’s fights and he is very, very chinny.
“I think that if Pulev rocks him and exposes that chin, he has enough strength and energy to finish the job.”
Arum believes Pulev can disappoint his star man Tyson Fury by wrecking the chances of an all- British clash for the undisputed world heavyweight title next year. Joshua has a rematch clause if he loses.
Arum believes Fury could have his trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder while that takes place.
He added: “If Pulev wins, it would disappoint a lot of people, including Tyson Fury, but it is what it is.”
Anthony Joshua v Kubrat Pulev is live on Sky Sports Box Office tomorrow.