Kubrat Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) is tired of waiting for the champion fight against Anthony Joshua (23-1-1, 21 KOs). The Bulgarian is a mandatory contender for the IBF heavyweight belt, and he was supposed to fight for the title last year, while Andy Ruiz Jr. was still the champion. Pulev agreed that Ruiz will meet Joshua once again provided that - as the International Boxing Federation (IBF) has confirmed in its statement - the winner of Ruiz vs Joshua fight will meet him until May 2020.
The confrontation of the Bulgarian "Cobra" with AJ, who successfully took revenge of Ruiz Jr. in December, was supposed to take place on June 20, but the fight was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Recently, it has been suggested that Joshua instead of Pulev can cross gloves with Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), paying the IBF mandatory challenger step aside fee for an additional several months of waiting. Pulev in an interview with Yahoo Sports definitely ruled out such a scenario.
“I would not agree,” said the Bulgarian. “Once I did a favor for Joshua, agreeing to his fight against Ruiz. This was against IBF rules, but I compromised. Enough! I do not know why they are constantly postponing our battle instead of setting a date and proceeding with its implementation. I want to win this fight - I see how he is afraid of me, the champions do not behave like that!”
“Even Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield returned for the next fight, they are real warriors, not like Joshua. A year has passed and they still have a bunch of excuses. Joshua now has two options - he either fights me or gives me a belt!” Kubrat Pulev said.
