Unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua made his return to the ring with a dazzling display, knocking out his IBF mandatory, Kubrat Pulev in the 9th round in front of 1,000 hometown spectators at London’s Wembley SSE Arena. Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) used an arsenal of uppercuts and right hands to give Pulev (28-2, 14 KOs) his first loss since being knocked out by a long-reigning heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.
Joshua floored Pulev twice in the 3rd round, but the rugged Bulgarian finished the round. The middle rounds mostly favored Joshua, but Pulev had his moments landing solid 1-2 punches. In the 9th round, Joshua found paydirt. He knocked Pulev down with several uppercuts, but he was able to beat the count. Joshua feinted with left before landing a straight right on Pulev’s chin. This time he could not beat referee Deon Dwarte’s count at 2:58 of the round.
With this victory, the stage is now set for a unification match with the WBC and Ring champion, Tyson Fury, or a bout with Joshua’s WBO belt mandatory, Oleksandr Usyk.
Also featured in the co-main event was cruiserweight contender Lawrence Okolie’s 2nd round TKO demolishing of Nikodem Jezewski. With his victory, Okolie (15-0, 12 KOs) won the WBO Intercontinental title and set himself up to challenge for the vacant WBO world title.
