Who else is on the fight card ahead of Joshua vs Pulev?

On Saturday 12^th December, the reigning WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion of the world, Anthony Joshua takes on the IBF mandatory challenger, Kubrat Pulev, over 12 rounds at London’s Wembley Arena. The fight has been a long time coming, and there’s expected to be 1,000 fans in attendance, in addition to the millions watching on at home. While the latest Joshua – Pulev odds don’t favour the Bulgarian to win the bout, he’s sure to pose a tough threat, and like Joshua, has only lost once in his professional career.

As we gear up to the main event, let’s take a look at the other fights that feature on the undercard – there are two vacant titles up for grabs!

Junior-heavyweight: Okolie vs Głowacki

Up-and-coming cruiserweight, Lawrence Okolie takes on Polish boxer, Krzysztof Głowacki – with the vacant WBO junior-heavyweight title to be awarded to the victor. Okolie previously held the Commonwealth cruiserweight title (2018-19), as well as both the British and European titles on separate occasions, last year. He currently boasts a record of 14-0, with 11 wins by way of knockout.

Głowacki on the other hand, won a bronze medal at the 2008 EU Championships when fighting as an amateur. His professional career took off in October that year, with the majority of his bouts taking place on home turf. His record stands at 31-2 (19 wins by KO).

Heavyweight: Hughie Fury vs Mariusz Wach

It’s the battle of the title challengers, without there being a belt on the line this time around. Hughie Fury, the cousin of Tyson, previously challenged for the WBO heavyweight title in 2017, losing out to Joshua Parker by majority decision. That marked the first of three defeats in his professional career to date (24-3), and he has since lost to Pulev and Alexander Povetkin.

Wach once took on Wladimir Klitschko for the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles – which marked the first loss of his professional career, and which was marred by doping allegations which the Polish boxer later admitted. Pre-fight, his record stands at 36-6. After losing to Brit Derek Chisora last year, when he was on the undercard to the Joshua vs Ruiz Jr fight in Diriyah, Wach returned to winning ways in June, beating Kevin Johnson to be awarded the vacant Republic of Poland International heavyweight title.

Heavyweight: Martin Bakole vs Sergey Kuzmin

The vacant WBC International heavyweight title is up for grabs in this heavyweight clash. Bakole is the younger brother of a cruiserweight, Ilunga Makabu, and has a record of 15-1 (12 KO) since turning professional in 2014. The Congolese boxer previously won the IBO Continental heavyweight title but lost to Michael Hunter in 2018, so missed out on the Inter-Continental title. Bakole’s on a four-bout winning streak but has been out of the ring for just over a year.

In his amateur days, Kuzmin was a gold and silver medallist at the European Championships, in the heavyweight division – and he too, turned professional in 2014. He’s been out of the ring a lot longer, last losing to Hunter in September 2019, also losing his WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title. It is the only defeat in Kuzmin’s professional career so far, with a record of 15-1 (1 no contest) and 11 of those wins via knockout.

Also, on the undercard

Souleymane Cissokho v Kieron Conway

Ramla Ali v Vanesa Cababellero

Qais Ashfaq v Ashley Lane