Pulev isn’t in the same class as Wladimir, says Dimitrenko

By Boxing News - 07/05/2014 - Comments

pulev8By Allan Fox: Alexander Dimitrenko thinks that #1 IBF, #6 WBO Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KO’s) is stepping out of his lane in challenging IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KO’s) in their fight scheduled for September 6th at the O2 World Arena, Altona, in Hamburg, Germany.

Dimitrenko, who was stopped by Pulev in the 11th round in a competitive fight in May of 2012, thinks that Wladimir is just a step too far for the 6’4 1/2” Pulev, and he sees him going down to defeat in this fight.

“I respect Kubrat, but it just is not the class of Klitschko,” Dimitrenko said to Russian news agency ITAR-TASS. “As for our fight, he knocked me out because of an injury I received.”
It would seem that Pulev is going to have some problems against Wladimir unless he can show some improvement over the way he’s performed in his previous fights.

Pulev beat Dimitrenko, Alexander Ustinov and Tony Thompson, but he didn’t look all that impressive in any of those fights in terms of power and hand speed. Pulev was mostly jabbing, dashing away when they would attempt to hit him, and landing clubbing punches that didn’t have much on them.

Pulev won’t be able to beat Wladimir in a jabbing war because he doesn’t have the same kind of reach that Wladimir has, and his jab isn’t as powerful. If Pulev does connect with a lot of jabs, you can bet that Wladimir will shut that down with clinching and power shots.

Wladimir has the better hand speed, and he can always fall back on his big power advantage to give Pulev fits if he’s not doing a good enough jab in a battle of jabs in the center of the ring. Pulev will be there to be hit with right hands if he stands in front of Wladimir on the outside looking to land jabs. While Pulev is good at retreating at the slightest hint of danger, he won’t be quick enough to get away without getting nailed by a lot of straight right hands from Wladimir in this fight.



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