Anthony Joshua is ‘underestimating me’ by focusing on Tyson Fury showdown, claims Kubrat Pulev
KUBRAT PULEV loves the fact people are talking about Anthony Joshua’s 2021 showdown with Tyson Fury — and not their clash on Saturday.
AJ is putting his WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight titles on the line against wily underdog Pulev at Wembley Arena.
And if the Watford star wins, Eddie Hearn has confirmed Fury is welcome to climb into the ring for a face-off.
Joshua, 31, faced an identical situation in June 2019 when all the chat before his voluntary defence against unknown Andy Ruiz Jr was about a potential undisputed decider with Deontay Wilder.
Warhorse Pulev, 39, watched how that unfolded — with the Brit suffering a shock loss in Madison Square Garden — and is loving all the pre-fight hype being about AJ and Fury trading leather next year.
The Bulgarian said: “I like that people are talking more about Joshua versus Fury than Joshua versus Pulev. It is not insulting to me, I like it.
“Everybody might think professional heavyweight boxers are dumb but we are smart — and a smart person would not be insulted by this. I am glad.
“I am happy because while he is thinking about something and somebody else, he is underestimating me and the current situation.
“This cannot insult me, my ego is not like that, it’s a good situation for me.”
Hearn revealed in June that AJ and Fury had agreed a 50-50 split for their first fight in early 2021 and a 60-40 cut for the winner in the rematch.
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And AJ’s promoter hopes WBC king Fury — who has been offered VIP seats and also a commentary role for Saturday’s clash — will make an appearance to stoke up even more attention in the all-English match-up.
Hearn revealed: “I messaged him yesterday saying, ‘You’re more than welcome’. And I know our broadcaster partners Sky and DAZN were talking to him about working on the night.
“We know what the deal is. If I was Fury, I would want to watch AJ up close. That’s why AJ came to Oleksandr Usyk against Derek Chisora last month, to support Chisora but also to watch Usyk up close.
“I’d like to be in a position on Saturday to say, ‘We’ve got a deal, we have an agreement, these are the dates we are working on. Now let’s go and find a venue’.”
One thing Hearn had not considered, though, was Fury using his prime position to trash talk Joshua without 90,000 fans to drown him out.
When asked if Fury could be a needless distraction at the 1,000-ticket event, the Matchroom boss said: “That is something you have to be careful of.
“I had to check with AJ, because I didn’t want him to come and AJ to ask, ‘What is he doing here?’.
“For me it would be a distraction — you see this guy who you want to fight next and he’s shouting at you.
“He might be shouting, ‘You big dosser’, he probably would. I haven’t thought about that!”
But Hearn has already done the sums on how much the biggest fight in British boxing history could make.
With the first Joshua-Fury scrap headed to the Middle East, there will be a UK-friendly start time of around 9pm and record-breaking pay-per-view buys.
A target of 2.2million sales would bank over £65m, with a site fee from front runners Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Abu Dhabi, plus sponsorship deals set to make it a £200m fight.
But Jenga-nut Pulev plans on demolishing AJ’s bid to become the undisputed king.
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He added: “I win Jenga all the time. This is my second passion after boxing.
“Joshua is a very good fighter that I respect — but I will show I am the better boxer.”
