By Scott Gilfoid: The International Boxing Federation has scheduled a purse bid on April 10th for heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev (25-1, 13 KOs) and Dominic Breazeale (19-1, 17 KOs) for a title eliminator to become the mandatory for IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs).
The purse bid can be canceled before April 10 if the management for Pulev and Breazeale are able to put together a deal.
Earlier this month, the IBF ordered the final eliminator between Pulev and Breazeale, but the two camps were unable to negotiate a fight.
Breazeale, 32, is ranked #2 WBC, #2 WBO and #6 IBF. Breazeale is rated high enough where he could easily get a title shot against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder without having to bother fighting the always tough 36-year-old Pulev. If Wilder’s management offers Breazeale a title shot, it might be difficult for him to turn down the fight, because that’s a big payday without having to bother with an eliminator.
If Breazeale is confident he can beat Wilder, it might be an option for him to take if he doesn’t want to have to go through the 6’4 ½” Pulev to earn a title shot. Breazeale lost to Anthony Joshua two years ago by a 7th round knockout in challenging him for his IBF heavyweight title. It’s unclear why the IBF is letting Breazeale get back in the title picture for a rematch against Joshua so soon after losing to him a convincing fashion in 2016. The IBF isn’t making it very difficult for Breazeale to get another title shot against Josua. There are a lot of contenders in the heavyweight division that deserve to be pushed up above Breazeale following his loss to Joshua. The boxing public might not be eager to see Joshua vs. Breazeale II at this point.
Breazeale has won his last two fights against Izuagbe Ugonoh and Erick Molina by stoppage wins.
Pulev lost four years ago to former IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko by a 5th round knockout. Pulev has a 5-fight winning streak since then. Of those five victories, Pulev defeated Dereck Chisora by a 12 round split decision in May 2016. The other four wins for Pulev has come against journeyman Samuel Peter, Kevin Johnson, Maurice Harris and George Arias. Given how weak Pulev’s opposition has been in the last three years, it’s difficult to know how much he has left of his boxing skills.
The move by the IBF to order Breazeale to face Pulev in a final eliminator could help Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn with his Dillian Whyte, who is ranked No.1 with the World Boxing Council. Hearn wants the WBC to make Whyte the mandatory challenger to WBC champion Deontay Wilder. The WBC has been taking their time deciding what they’re going to do with Wilder’s mandatory situation. With Breazeale ranked #2 with the WBC, the sanctioning body can order Whyte and Breazeale to face each other in a final eliminator match. However, with the IBF potentially taking Breazeale out of play by ordering him to face Pulev in an IBF title eliminator, it could make it more likely that the WBC will make Whyte the mandatory challenger for Wilder. What Hearn wants is for Whyte to challenger Wilder and possibly beat him, because then he’ll have 2 of his heavyweights in his Matchroom Boxing stable holding down titles.
Hearn would then make a unification fight between Whyte and Joshua without having to deal with an outside promoter. It would be an in house Matchroom Boxing fight between Whyte and Joshua. Hearn is probably very happy at the news of the IBF ordering the Breazeale vs. Pulev fight, because it might help him get his way with the WBC giving Whyte the mandatory position following his 6th round knockout win over Lucas Browne last Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, England. It’s thought by many that Hearn doesn’t want Wilder to fight Joshua because of the risk he poses. So, if Whyte can beat Wilder, it removes a threat to Hearn’s cash machine fighter Joshua. It’s crazy for Hearn to want Whyte to beat Wilder, because it means much less money for Joshua to face Whyte than it does for him to beat Wilder. But when you realize what Wilder can do to the Joshua money machine by knocking him out, then it’s understandable why Hearn wants Whyte to face Wilder.
The IBF seems to have skipped over #3 IBF Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller for the IBF title eliminator. By letting #6 IBF Breazeale to fight in the eliminator against Pulev, the IBF has bypassed Miller. The IBF likely is making this move is because Hearn has been talking about wanting to match Joshua against Miller this summer. Miller doesn’t need to fight in an IBF eliminator to get a title shot against Joshua, because he’s going to be given a crack at his belt in a voluntary defense this summer.
The Bulgarian Pulev was supposed to get a title shot against Joshua last October, but he suffered a shoulder injury and had to pull out of the fight with 2 weeks to go. Pulev was replaced by Carlos Takam, who Joshua stopped in the 10th round on October 28 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
Joshua would likely be more than happy to milk his IBF title against Breazeale. That’s like a sparring match for Joshua. It would be too easy for him. The last time those two fought, Breazeale looked like he was too afraid to let his shots go, and Joshua took advantage of it by landing at will until stopping him in the 7th in a boring fight.