Bob Arum: "Anthony Joshua is a scared fighter who will lose to Pulev"
Legendary Top Rank promoter Bob Arum launches a scathing attack on two-time heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua, who he claims will lose his next fight to IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev.
Arum also disagrees with Saudi Arabia as a choice of location for fight nights and discusses Tyson Fury's career, who faces Deontay Wilder this weekend in one of the most eagerly anticipated rematches in heavyweight history.
Here's what he had to say when speaking exclusively to VegasInsider.com:
On Anthony Joshua
"The earliest a unification fight can be is 2021 as Joshua has to go through the mandatory challenges of Pulev and Uysk. But I can envisage Pulev being the champion. I'd like Pulev to win over Joshua.
"Joshua is a scared fighter and a scared fighter who is going to lose. Joshua gets knocked out by Andy Ruiz who is maybe a little bit better than a normal heavyweight, no great shakes.
"And then he goes into the ring and instead of showing what kind of fighter he is and putting Ruiz out, he spent 12 rounds running away and Ruiz was in no kind of shape to catch him. That's what I call a scared fighter.
"Ruiz hit the lottery by fighting Joshua at the right time, it went to his head. There was no discipline, he didn't train and so forth. I'm telling you when Joshua fights Pulev, it will be a whole different thing and Pulev will knock him out. He cannot run away from Pulev, he will have to stand and fight and a scared fighter is not going to perform well."
Saudi Arabia is not good for the sport
"Maybe if we'd have taken this fight to Saudi Arabia, we'd have made more money but not the sport of boxing and putting the sport into the mainstream.
"If you do it occasionally, it doesn't hurt and the money is good. But you can't do it as a steady diet and hope to grow the sport. It's not fair to the sport – you can have the odd NFL game in the UK or Mexico, but you can only have the Super Bowl in the US. It's the same principle."
On how long Fury can keep going
"Tyson fights for fame and fortune. He will make an awful lot of money from this fight and will provide the opportunity for his family, his children and his grandchildren, which is why you keep fighting.
"He's barely over 30 and how long left depends on him and his lifestyle. If he continues with his current lifestyle, he could go on for six or seven years. If he reverts to some of his old habits, it'll be a much shorter period.
"No scenario because Joshua, who has the titles he won back from Andy Ruiz, has two mandatories which he must do against Pulev and Uysk. As far as I am concerned, the earliest a unification fight can take place is 2021."
HÖRFA are proud sponsors of British Boxing News