Kubrat Pulev

(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.

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(Photo credit: Team Sauerland) By Eric Thomas: American heavyweight Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO’s) has a chance to lock himself in for another world title shot against IBF/IBO/WBO/WBA heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko if Thompson can beat undefeated Bulgarian heavyweight Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) this Saturday night on August 24th in their IBF heavyweight eliminator bout at the Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

Thompson, 41, is going to have to really impress to get the win in this fight, because Pulev is considered the home fighter in this one due to his German promoters. Thompson may need to get a knockout to ensure that he gets out of the ring with a win, because there’s a possibility he could lose this one by a controversial decision.

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By Ivan Ivanov: Kubrat Pulev vs Tony Thompson – Amateur vs Pro?
Some boxing experts and writers frivolously use the term “amateur’ in a negative sense and seem to forget it has a different meaning in boxing and has little bearing to skill level or attitude to the sport.

“The Cobra” and “The Tiger” seem like good examples how amateur and professional boxing converge, if there is any principal difference at all.

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(Photo credit: Wende) By Ivan Ivanov: This fight is scheduled for Aug. 24 and since it’s a final eliminator for the IBF title, the winner gets a shot at Wladimir Klitschko unless Alexander Povetkin can cause an improbable upset. The fight would have been interesting anyway because we don’t get to see a meaningful heavyweight fight very often.

Let’s look at the facts first: Tony Thompson is 6′ 5″ /196cm, his reach is 81½″/207cm he weighed 259 lbs in his last fight, age 41. Kubrat Pulev is 6′ 4½″/194cm, reach 80″/202cm, weight around 250 lbs, age 32. Pulev is orthodox, Thompson is a southpaw and this will be a factor in the fight.

Thompson has more experience as a pro and he has faced harder opponents, he has been tested and evaluated as a solid contender, a first echelon gatekeeper to the throne. He lost twice to W. Klitschko but he exposed twice David Price who was a decent amateur at least on paper.

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By Allan Fox: #4 IBF, Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO’s) could be on the verge of getting a third shot at IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko if the 41-year-old Thompson can beat undefeated #1 IBF, Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) next month in their IBF heavyweight eliminator bout on August 24th at the Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

The International Boxing Federation gave their approval today that the Thompson-Pulev fight will be an IBF heavyweight eliminator bout with the winner becoming the mandatory challenger of the winner of the Wladimir Klitschko vs. Alexander Povetkin fight on October 5th.

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By Allan Fox: #8 IBF, Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO’s) will be battling unbeaten Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) on August 24th as a possible IBF eliminator bout to get a shot against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Facing the 6’4 ½” Pulev is definitely the toughest road to get a title shot against Wladimir, but it is the quickest one that Thompson can get.

He’d be waiting for a long time to get a crack at WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, and that avenue is pretty well blocked given that Thompson isn’t ranked in the top 15 by any of those organizations.

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