Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev will be Joshua’s highly-anticipated return to the boxing ring. AJ won the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles against Andy Ruiz Jr.

Prior to that, Ruiz had pulled off a massive upset when he gave Joshua the first professional loss of his career. However, AJ rebounded and got his belts back. Now he is looking ahead to Kubrat Pulev.

Pulev is one of the best Heavyweight boxers of the last decade. The 39-year-old challenged for a world title last in 2014 and lost to Wladimir Klitschko. That is the only loss on Pulev’s record.

This may be the final shot for Pulev to get a major title fight, so the stakes are extremely high this time around.

A successful defence here could lead to a Tyson Fury super-fight for AJ. That would be an absolute treat for the fans, but some good news for the fans has already come in.

There will be 1000 fans allowed into The SSE Arena, Wembley, for AJ and Pulev’s fight. Strict COVID-19 regulations will be imposed, but it is nice to see that fans will actually get to experience this bout live and in-person, even if it is just 1000 fans.

Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev: Is the result a foregone conclusion?

Much like the first Ruiz fight, Joshua is widely expected to come away with a win and move on to Tyson Fury. He has already thrown the occasional social media pot-shot.

To lose after being this close to that fight will be very sad to see. However, Pulev is possibly a bigger threat than what Ruiz was.

This fight will be interesting, as Pulev is possibly heading into retirement if this attempt doesn’t work out. Joshua is far and away the favorite, but has shown a tendency to have lapses in big fights. One mistake here may just set him up for a perennial poor reputation in big fights.

Fans being there shouldn’t have a major impact on the outcome, but it is a nice touch for the fighters to actually be cheered on by onlookers. After all, boxing was always about the performance, along with the art.