SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
AJ: I won’t let thoughts of Fury distract me.. it’s irrelevant.. I must focus on Pulev
J o s h u a i n s i s t s h e i s n o t i n t e r e s t e d i n t h e prospect of facing Fury f o r t h e u n d i s p u t e d w o r l d heavyweight title – even though it is the fight everyone else is talking about. The rival promoters Eddie Hearn and Bob Arum, who also looks after Kubrat Pulev, are drawing up the fight contract and hope to announce the first of the two super- fights within days.
It would easily be the biggest showdown in British boxing history and smash all records for PPV buys and income in the UK.
Yet Joshua refused to be drawn on Fury, even after he snubbed Hearn’s offer to be at ringside tonight at the SSE Arena, Wembley.
“Pulev i s my only focus right now,” said the WBA Super, IBF and WBO king. “Good luck to him ( Fury), but Saturday night is my night.
“Good luck to all the other heavyweights and, until I f i g h t t h e m , t h e y ’ r e irrelevant.” Joshua’s mindset ref lects his laser- focus on Pulev and he knows what happened first time around against Andy Ruiz Jr, when he indulged in all the talk pre- f i ght of a showdown with Deontay Wilder.
He has seen Daniel Dubois and Anthony Yarde suffer surprise defeats and Pulev, like Joe Joyce and Lyndon Arthur, has a decent jab.
“Look at the Joyce- Dubois situation, Yarde and Arthur,” he said. “The jabbers have done well thi s year and Pulev has a good jab.
“If I don’t t ake Pul e v deadly serious, I ’m giving him a chance to beat me.
“If I ’m deadly serious, it’s g oi ng t o e l i minat e a ny chance for him to beat me, so that’s what I ’m focused on. I think this f ight will define me. People say I had more pressure on me i n Saudi when I was fighting Ruiz in the rematch, but I f eel I ’m f i ghting f or t he championship again.”
Joshua has the firepower to stop Pulev, and Wladimir Klitschko set the benchmark with his five- round KO of the Bulgarian in 2014.
Pulev has slimmed down to be more mobile and will try to move in and out and hit Joshua with his trusty jab.
But being l i ght er wil l lessen his durability, one of hi s great e st assets, and Joshua ( confronting Pulev at yesterday’s weigh- in, above and top left) should break him down by the eighth.
Joshua, 31, says he won’t take a knee tonight before the first bell in support of Black Lives Matter, despite speaking at a rally in June in his hometown of Watford.
He wants to do something more concrete and plans to instead celebrate the achievements of black Britons.
“What we’re trying to do is showcase people from the Afro- Caribbean community as valuable members of British society,” he added.
“It ’s to showcase NHS workers, architects, athletes, and be positive for everyone in the community.
“Ta k i n g a k n e e i s i mportant, 100 per cent. But I ’m doing something different this time around.”