By Jim Dower: In one of your better heavyweight match-ups, undefeated Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev (15-0, 7 KO’s) will be fighting 6’7″ Ukrainian Alexander Dimitrenko (32-1, 21 KO’s) for the vacant European Boxing Union (EBU) heavyweight title on May 5th at the Messehalle in Erfurt, Germany. This is a great fight between two good but flawed big heavyweights. It’s difficult to pick a winner here because both fighters have a lot of positives and minuses that cancel each other out.

Dimitrenko, 29, is the much more mobile and athletic of the two. Dimitrenko, #2 WBO, #3 WBC, #7 WBA, #7 IBF, can do a lot of things really good, such as moving around the ring, fighting on the inside and defending. He’s like an unfinished, weaker version of Wladimir Klitschko. However, Dimitrenko’s chin is his weak spot, as is his lack of crushing power. Dimitrenko can be hurt, as we’ve seen in his fights with Eddie Chambers, Timo Hoffmann and Albert Sosnowski. Dimitrenko was beaten by the American Chambers when Dimitrenko made a tactical blunder by choosing to try and fight the 6’1′ Chambers on the inside for much of the fight while backed the ropes. Why Dimitrenko did this is the big question, but it showed clearly that his decision making is lacking at times.

Pulev, 6’4 1/2″, was a very good amateur fighter for Bulgaria and fought previously in the 2008 Olympics. Puliev, now 30, obviously spent a little too much time in the amateur ranks, as he turned pro three years ago at the ripe age of 27. That’s kind of old for a fighter to be just turning pro. Pulev, #13 IBF, #13 WBO, has looked good in beating Travis Walker, Derric Rossy, Maksym Pedyura, Matt Skelton, Pablo Vidoz, Dominick Guinn and Michael Sprott. None of those guys were good enough to really give you a good indication of how good of a fighter Pulev is. He beat them all, but showed a lack of power and hand speed. He seemed pounded out mostly decisions and showed that he’s a tough fighter to beat because of his jab and huge size.

Dimitrenko can win this fight if he uses his jab, moves a lot and throws fast combinations. But he can’t stand in front of Pulev all night long and expect to win. Pulev is too strong and will bludgeon Dimitrenko into submission if he fights him like that. Dimitrenko has to take advantage of Pulev’s lack of footwork and hand speed if he wants to beat him.

The fight card has a number of other excellent fights on it. Here are the other bouts on the card:

Marco Huck vs. Ola Afolabi
George Groves vs. Robert Stieglitz
Edmund Gerber vs. Maurice Harris
Dustin Dirks vs. Thomas Ulrich.