Anthony Joshua retained his heavyweight titles on Saturday night as he knocked out Kubrat Pulev in front of 1,000 fans at Wembley Arena in London. Joshua’s WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO championships were on the line as the Briton returned to the ring, 12 months after he outpointed Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia to exact his revenge on the Mexican-American and regain the belts.
AJ (24-1, 22 KOs) was set to fight Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) back in 2017, but the challenger was forced to pull out on late notice with an injury. The Bulgarian got his shot at Joshua in London, however, and – after the pair’s hostile face-off at Saturday’s weigh-in – many were expecting the bout to end in a knockout due to the bad blood between the opponents.
And the knockout came in the ninth round, the victory for Joshua surely setting up a mouthwatering all-British clash with WBC and Ring magazine champion Tyson Fury in 2021.
There was a packed undercard, too, with Lawrence Okolie and Hughie Fury both winning. Re-live all the action from the undercard and main event below.
