Kubrat Pulev looks as lean and confident as he is relaxed and engaged in the world heavyweight championship bubble that isolates him and Anthony Joshua until Saturday night’s title fight at Wembley. “I feel a little lighter and at best like this,” said the Bulgarian challenger on Wednesday. “A boxer has to have strength and speed and right now I feel very dangerous.”
Joshua is expected to keep his IBF, WBA, and WBO titles, but Pulev grinned and let out a low growl when asked to predict the outcome. “It means we’re going to win,” he said of the growl. “It won’t be an easy fight, but we will win it. He’s a very good fighter that I respect, but I’ll show that I’m the better boxer. Two good fighters mean it’s a dangerous fight and I like that. “
Pulev is an obscure figure outside of boxing, but he remains extremely popular in Bulgaria. Almost two million people in his home country watched him lose his only title fight to Wladimir Klitschko in 2014, and Pulev insists that being the first Bulgarian to win the world heavyweight championship would be of great importance. “It’s much more important to me than becoming a champion for the money. That means everything when I get there. I don’t think it’s my last chance, but it’s an important moment. I lost one time [to Klitschko] I was too young, too green.
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“Before Klitschko I was relaxed, but there were a lot of problems. My organizers talked about tickets and money. They were mistakes because I wasn’t just thinking about training and strategy for the fight. It just didn’t work. This week has been amazing because we’re in the bubble. People want to see me, but I tell them I’m in the bubble. “
Pulev has an impressive 28-1 record but is 39 years old. However, he insists that “I can do 12 laps. I could do 20 laps. I trained in our mountains, which are 2,300 m above sea level. “
While the bubble buzzes with speculation that Joshua’s one-on-one deal with Tyson Fury, the WBC champion, is about to be revealed, Pulev said he was not offended. “I like that people talk more about Joshua versus Fury than Joshua versus Pulev. It is not an insult to me. Everyone may think heavyweight boxers are stupid, but we’re smart people. I’m happy because while he’s thinking about fighting someone else, he’s underestimating me and the current situation. “
If Pulev can fight with the same serenity and conviction he speaks with, and can use his effective thrust and apparent strength to test Joshua, we could have a real fight in the bubble.
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