Klitsachko-Pulev a done deal for September 6th at O2 World Arena, Hamburg, Germany

By Boxing News - 06/19/2014 - Comments

pulevBy Scott Gilfoid: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KO’s) will be making his next defense against 6’4 ½” Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KO’s) on September 6th at the O2 World Arena, Altona, in Hamburg, Germany. Pulev is the IBF mandatory challenger, so he gets to be the next guy that the 6’6” Wladimir faces.

Pulev has been bellyaching about wanting a title shot against Wladimir for a while now, and finally has his shot. Unfortunately the odds of him doing any better than Wladimir’s last opponent Alex Leapai are virtually nonexistent, due to Pulev’s complete lack of punching power. At least with Leapai, there was a slight chance he might land one of his big power shots to knock Wladimir out. But with Pulev, he just jabs and slaps with his shots, and he doesn’t have the power to make it a decent fight.

The fact that Pulev has fought his entire pro career without facing one quality heavyweight is telling. It suggests that there was some worry that he might not pass the test. You’d like to have seen Pulev face Deontay Wilder to get a world title shot against Wladimir in order to see how Pulev reacts to Deontay bouncing huge right hands off his head for 4 rounds.

“I will get the titles. I am ready to replace Wladimir Klitschko as the world champion,” Pulev said. “This fight is the highlight of my career. I will show the fans worldwide that Klitschko is no invincible machine and fulfill my dream. I have worked hard for this chance.“

I’m not so sure about Pulev having worked hard for his chance to fight Wladimir. Let’s be honest; the best guy that Pulev has fought during his 5-year pro career is Tony Thompson, and Pulev was getting beaten by Thompson during the first 5 rounds until he ran out of gas. The fact that Thompson was having his way with Pulev for the first part of the fight tells you all you need to know about Pulev’s chances against Wladimir. They’re simply not very good.

Wladimir comes into this with 16 successful title defenses. He wants to try and break Joe Louis’ record of 25 successful title defenses that he accomplished many year ago.

Pulev has been playing it safe since he become the IBF mandatory for Wladimir. In his last two fights, he’d beaten Joey Abell and Ivica Perkovic. Pulev didn’t look impressive in either fight. The power just wasn’t there, and I don’t expect him to develop any additional punching power by September 6th.

The IBF should have at least made Pulev fight Deontay or someone like Chris Arreola, Bryant Jennings or Bermane Stiverne to earn the IBF mandatory spot. Letting Pulev fight 42-year-old Tony Thompson for the IBF mandatory spot was basically the IBF just handing Pulev the title shot, because they set it up so easily for him. This is how you get mismatches by having a heavyweight face less than the best in eliminator bouts.

I honestly don’t think Pulev would get past Arreola, Jennings, and definitely not against Deontay. I rate Tyson Fury, Dereck Chisora, Anthony Joshua, and Mike Perez as being better heavyweights than Pulev. Fringe contender Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne would likely give the 33-year-old Pulev a lot of problems as well with his punching power.



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