Only people who do not understand boxing can say that it was a fixed fight.

Kubrat Pulev gave an exclusive interview on “Tema Sport”.  Cobra talks about  the battle between Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua, as well as what follows for him on the basis of the victory of the new champion. The Bulgarian also talked about the Commission’s sanction in California.

Harry Latiffian

– “Kubrat, there is a great development in your favor of the battle between Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua. Is that really true?

-“I’ve been telling everyone for a long time that the heavyweight will be getting more interesting. And this was proven once again with this match between Ruiz and Joshua. We will see in whose favor will be. For me this game showed that you cant make jokes with the heavyweight. Everybody thought that Ruiz will loose because for his appearance and comparisons with Joshua, and that was a big mistake. A mistake that Joshua paid very expensive price.”

-“It turned out that Joshua is not invincible?”

-“Of course. There are no invincible people. In heavyweight there is no such thing as invincible. Joshua underestimated this opponent as I underestimated the situation years ago with Klitschko. And then I did not realise what rival I was facing, as he did it now. At the time only Rocky Marciano managed to end his career unbeaten, but then the boxing was quite different, the conditions were different.”

– “What’s next for you now?”

– “What must happen is Andy Ruis to fight against me. They say there is a rematch clause that Anthony Joshua wants to perform right away. This is something that will be decided between the managers and the IBF, because Ruiz has a mandatory defence fight with me before he gives a revenge to Joshua and frankly, I would advise Joshua not to throw himself on a rematch with Ruiz immediately because he will lose again. Even worse. You saw that he was really helpless at this fight. He had really underestimated it. Joshua’s team talked about next matches, next rivals and meeting place. Ruiz was so underestimated, they were arrogant, but the Lord was looking at it, and it had different opinion.”

– “What would you say about the theory that the game was fixed for more money from televisions and Mexican viewers?”

– “This is complete bullshit. Honestly, I can not believe anyone thinks a match at this level can be fixed. Whoever understands boxing knows that this can not happen. Whoever watched the match is well aware that Andy Ruiz totally defeated Joshua, and now these theories are drawn to devalue what he has done. For me the energy of the Lord helped Ruiz. That was clearly his plan. I want people very clearly to read what I will tell them in your newspaper. Stop listening and thinking nonsense that are talked to them. Faith is what leads people forward and makes them very strong. The Lord made this boxer win this match. His faith in the Lord gave him the energy to conquer. Many people stop and say to me – “you’re tall” or something. This is unimportant. It does not matter if you are tall or low, fat or look like Apollo. Faith is what can distinguish you from others. For me, in this game, the spirit and the faith in yourself over the arrogance have won. And this fight is a good example for everyone, that not the appearance, the muscles and the abs are leading. Do not live in a fictional, material world, but believe and respect both ourselves and and  others. Let’s stop with simplicity, people read a lot of nonsense, and the truth is quite different and that’s what happened in New York.”

– “Tyson Fury also defeated Vladimir Klitschko, and before that people called him a fat man” …

-“There is a big difference. However, let’s not forget that the height advantage of that game was entirely in favour of Fury. He uses this very skilfully. As you now see how tall Joshua was and actually had the advantage of being at the centre of the ring and controlling the distance. But Ruiz did not allow him. He just beat him on all the benchmarks. Even when he fell in the third round, he was not shaken, he stood upright, and that is what faith I was talking about led him to the knockout.”

-“Tell me what happens to your punishment? Do you go for a procedure, is the course going through the Internet? “

-“It can be said that i do both. I started the courses, I would do what I had put in the committee as a punishment. By July 22nd, I’ll do everything they want from me, to be able to get my license back. I think this is another life experience that will accumulate and enrich me. At the same time, I think they could leave me the license, and still appoint me these courses. I am glad that something like this happened to me. The courses are interesting for me, something new. “

– “Take you back to the IBF title. What’s next for you now? Negotiations with Ruiz for a match by the end of the year?”

-“We’ve been negotiating a match with Joshua in November at Wembley, but there wont be any. I’m glad I am a contender of this IBF federation because it has iron rules. We are already negotiating with Ruiz’s team, and I think it’s very likely in November to have a match with him for the world titles.”

-“There is information that if he refuses and takes his belt, you will box with Tyson Fury. Is it true ?

– “Tyson Fury? No, I can not fight with him for this title because he is way back in the IBF rankings. Within ten days everything will be clear. If Ruiz does decide on a revenge move with Joshua, I will box with the next one in the rankings. This is the federation’s rules. Still a little patience and everything will come to the end.”