(Photo credit: Team Sauerland) By Eric Thomas: Unbeaten #1 IBF heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) has been given a very ranking by the International Boxing Federation despite a lack of real quality on his resume. On Saturday night, the 32-year-old Pulev will face his first real opponent in his 4-year pro career when he battles the 6’5” Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO’s) at the Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
If the 6’4 ½” Pulev can win on Saturday night against Thompson, and that in turn will get Pulev a title shot against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Pulev’s chances of beating Wladimir are virtually nonexistent due to his lack of power, but at least he’ll get a good payday by being the mandatory challenger.
Pulev said to Sky Sports “I must beat him. Afterwards, nobody will be able to talk about a worthy world title challenger without mentioning my name. My aim is to become world champion. I guess [other fighters] have a fear of losing against me. Maybe these fighters see an easier chance to get a big fight.”
Pulev shouldn’t let the fact that some of the aging veteran heavyweights have avoided fighting him go to his head. He’s 32-years-old, and if he loses to Thompson on Saturday, he’ll be around 33 or 34 by the time he gets another chance to get into position for a world title. There are a lot of younger heavyweights in the division now with a lot more power than Pulev, and they can do a lot more than just and hold like him.
Pulev’s best wins going into the Thompson fight have come against the big and slow 6’7”, 305 lb. Alexander Ustinov, Alexander Dimitrenko, Michael Sprott, and Travis Walker. Thompson is a considerable move up from those fighters, and Pulev is going to have to bring a lot more to the table in this fight than just a jab and grab. Pulev will need to find power, because if he doesn’t have anything to deter Thompson’s attacks, then it’s going to mean that he’s going to have to absorb as much punishment as David Price recently did in getting blown out by Thompson last July in 5 rounds.
Thompson is a much more experienced fighter than Pulev, and he’s a lot more versatile offensively. Pulev mostly just jabs and throws a right hand that is devoid of power. But the southpaw Thompson has respectable power, and he can knock you out with either hand. Thompson doesn’t knock guys out quickly in his fights. He tends to wear his opponents down over a number of rounds with his shots before finally taking them out. Thompson has knocked out 7 of his last 8 opponents, and that shows you that he can punch.
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