This is our weekend review of all the action which took place this weekend. With shows in America and, most notably, in London. We saw the return of one of the biggest names in boxing with Anthony Joshua brutally knocking out Kubrat Pulev. 

We also saw plenty of talented fighters in good bouts this weekend, with the likes of Florian Marku, Hughie Fury, Martin Bakole, Edgar Berlanga and Lawrence Okolie all in action this weekend. This is your boxing round-up!

  • AJ Wins in Style

 

 

Joshua marked his return to the ring with a punch perfect display with a ninth round knockout of Pulev, with a trademark right hand. He had his Bulgarian opponent down twice in the third and in the ninth with a flurry of uppercuts which took its toll. 

It was an exciting affair, with Pulev showing tremendous heart and steel to somehow come through an AJ onslaught in the third round, but the 39-year-old looked every bit his age as the fight wore on.

His defence was non-existent at times and AJ made him pay over the course of the fight. Showing shades of his power and variety was a call back to his early career wins. 

As soon as the fight was over, all the talk turned to the next fight and Tyson Fury. Eddie Hearn was adamant the fight happens next, with Joshua a lot quieter on that front. But Fury took to social media to give his thoughts...

 

 

  • Okolie Produces Powerful Display

 

 

Lawrence Okolie moved to 15-0 with a brilliant, imposing knockout win over Nikodem Jezewski, who was previously unbeaten. He had his opponent down twice in the first and second round.

Okolie was meant to fight another Polish fighter, with Krzysztof Głowacki pulling out due to Covid, but his performance shows he's ready to step up to world level. His power was frightening in the cruiserweight division and he will be an problem for anyone in that division.

  • Fury & Bakole Victorious 

 

 

Hughie Fury recorded his 25th win as a pro, with a tough, hard-earned victory over the Polish fighter Marisuz Wach. On the scorecards, he won virtually every round, despite a clash of heads which left the Brit with a nasty cut. Nevertheless, he battled through.

In the earlier heavyweight clash, Martin Bakole won the vacant WBC International Heavyweight title with a unanimous points decision win over Sergey Kuzmin. 

New Matchroom signing Florian Marku drew on his debut with the promotional company with an action packed draw against Jamie Stewart. The Albanian fighter had his man down in the second but the fight was scored 76-76, much to his dismay.

Bakole now is ranked with the WBC in the top 15 and will seek out bigger fights next season. For Fury, he wants revenge for his losses against Joseph Parker and Pulev as he looks build himself up to get to the top of the division.

 

 

  • Edgar Berlanga Continues KO Streak

 

 

One fighter is currently building up a very impressive knockout streak and on Saturday night in America, he scored his 16th first round knockout in a row. 

Yes you read that correctly; the American is rising at an immense rate and the 23-year-old is quickly becoming a problem in the super-middleweight division. 

It means he's now within five knockout wins of joining Ali Raymi’s record number of 21 straight first round stoppages. Bob Arum, the hall of fame promoter, was very complimentary after his win.

“Edgar Berlanga Jr is the greatest power-punching phenomenon I’ve seen since the heyday of a young Mike Tyson,” he tweeted.

Boxing guru Dan Rafael posted on Twitter: “Berlanga not only stopped Sierra in rd 1 but absolutely punished him."