Anthony Joshua Reveals That He Will NOT Take The Knee Ahead Of Kubrat Pulev Fight

Anthony Joshua has confirmed that he will not take the knee ahead of his world title defence against IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev.

The 31-year-old Brit superstar will make his hotly anticipated return to the squared circle on Saturday in London.

Joshua, who is of Nigerian heritage, showed his support to the anti-racism movements in June when he attended a march in his hometown of Watford.

Athletes from different sports have taken the knee as part of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement in the wake of George Floyd's death in the US in May.

However, 'AJ' has ruled out the idea that he would take the knee on Saturday, saying he is "trying to do more tangible things."

The two-time unified world champ said: "No, I won't take the knee.

"I'm trying to do more tangible things. What we're trying to do is create a union to support British culture, that's important to showcase people from the Afro-Caribbean community as valuable members of British society.

"I think that's more important, that's what we're working on at the minute with different athletes, different people, different places.

"Taking a knee is important, 100 per cent, but for me, personally, I'm doing something different this time around."

Joshua took to the scales on Friday for his pre-fight weigh-in before a heated exchange with Pulev on stage as the two heavyweights were separated by security.

Footage has since been released from the fiery incident to reveal what Joshua and Pulev said to one another as they traded verbal blows.

'AJ' has confirmed that his camp has been working behind the scenes with charities, though he has hinted that more details would be revealed further down the line.

"I've employed someone with the team who is actually working on it," he explained.

"Hopefully, it comes to fruition and it's only really to do positive things in the great British environment.

"There's sometimes issues with stigma and stereotypes, so it's to showcase our NHS workers, architects, athletes and be positive for everyone in the community.

"We've created a deck, a website and we're doing foundational things with grassroots charities at the minute because I can talk to you about boxing but certain issues in the world, I'm not a full-time activist so I'm more than likely to slip up here and there.

"What I would like to do is to team up with charities who deal with these things day in and day out and support their causes and champion certain things."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: AJ, Kubrat Pulev, Boxing News, Anthony Joshua, Boxing

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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