Kubrat Pulev

Is Tomas Adamek ready to fight for the heavyweight title in 2013?

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adamek45By Dan Ambrose: #3 IBF, #9 WBA, Tomasz Adamek (48-2, 29 KO’s) is close to becoming the mandatory challenger for IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2013, if Adamek can beat undefeated 6’4 ½” Kubrat Pulev this year in their IBF eliminator bout for the #1 mandatory position. However, Adamek has looked poor recently in winning two out of his last three fights by huge controversy in victories over Eddie Chambers and Steve Cunningham.

Adamek looked like he lost both of those fights, and even if you give benefit of the doubt and say he won, he still looked awful in both. Adamek didn’t look ready to fight either of the Klitschkos, and we already saw what happened when he fought Vitali Klitschko in September 2011. Adamek was toyed with and taken out in the 10th round in perhaps Vitali’s easiest fights since he recaptured the World Boxing Council heavyweight title in 2008 with a win over Samuel Peter.

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Adamek to face Kubrat Pulev next in IBF final eliminator

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pulev56By Allan Fox: IBF North American heavyweight champion Tomasz Adamek (48-2, 29 KO’s) really lucked out tonight in beating Steve Cunningham (25-5, 12 KO’s) by a 12 round split decision in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Not too many boxing fans saw the 36-year-old Adamek as the winner of the fight, and he’s pretty lucky that he had a couple of judges that saw him as the winner of the fight because a different set of judges likely would have gone with Cunningham as the winner because he did appear to out-box Adamek in this fight.

For Adamek, it’s his controversial win in his last three fights. He won a controversial 12 round decision over Eddie Chambers earlier this year with perhaps just as many angry boxing fans feeling that he’d been given a gift decision over Chambers.

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Adamek-Cunningham II winner will fight Kubrat Pulev to determine who faces Klitschko

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Image: Adamek-Cunningham II winner will fight Kubrat Pulev to determine who faces KlitschkoBy Eric Thomas: The winner of the December 22nd fight between Steven Cunningham (25-4, 12 KO’s) and 35-year-old Tomasz Adamek (47-2, 29 KO’s) in their #2 IBF heavyweight eliminator bout will then have to fight unbeaten #1 IBF Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) in a final IBF eliminator bout to determine who will be the fighter that will become the mandatory challenger for IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, says Kathy Duva of Main Events, who promotes Adamek.

Adamek wants to get another shot against one of the Klitschko brothers after having been beaten badly by WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko last year in a 10th round stoppage loss in September.

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Kubrat Pulev may be #3 heavyweight in division behind Klitschko brothers

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Image: Kubrat Pulev may be #3 heavyweight in division behind Klitschko brothersBy Sean McDaniel: Unbeaten heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev’s impressive performance against Alexander Ustinov in their IBF heavyweight eliminator bout last weekend put Pulev in line for a shot against IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko next year. But in addition to that, Pulev may have shown the he’s the number #3 heavyweight division just behind #1 Wladimir Klitschko and his brother #2 Vitali Klitschko.

At this point it’s difficult to find a better heavyweight among the rest of the pack than the 6’4 1/2″ Pulev because he’s got a huge amount of skills to go along with his size.

Here’s how I see the heavyweight division ranked right now:

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Did Ustinov pull a quit job against Pulev?

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Image: Did Ustinov pull a quit job against Pulev?By Sean McDaniel: In looking at the ending of last Saturday’s IBF heavyweight eliminator bout between previously unbeaten contender Alexander Ustinov (27-1, 21 KO’s) and Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) in Hamburg, Germany, it sure looked to me that the 6’7 1/2″ Ustinov flat out quit in the 11th round when he went down in a delayed reaction from two soft looking left hands that Pulev hit Ustinov with. I didn’t really understand it because the shots weren’t big, yet Ustinov was on one knee and failed to get up from the knockdown.

If Ustinov did quit, I kind of don’t blame him because the 6’4 1/2″ Pulev really gave him a beating for 11 rounds with his hard jabs to the face. Ustinov’s nose was bloody from the 2nd round, his face was red from the jabs that he was eating, and he had a cut over his left eye from the midpoint of the fight. What should have happened is Ustinov’s corner should have pulled the plug on the fight after the 9th round when it become clear that Ustinov didn’t have a chance to win the fight.

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Wladimir will have problems with Kubrat Pulev

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Image: Wladimir will have problems with Kubrat PulevBy Jason Kim: EBU heavyweight champion Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) forced previously unbeaten heavyweight contender Alexander Ustinov (27-1, 21 KO’s) quit in the 11th round of their fight last Saturday night in an IBF heavyweight title eliminator bout at the Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, in Hamburg, Germany. Ustinov took a knee after getting hit with two jabs. The win makes Pulev Wladimir Klitschko’s IBF mandatory challenger, and we could see the two of them fighting next year.

Perhaps the reason why Ustimov decided to quit on one knee was because of the 6’4 1/2″ Pulev’s excellent jab, which made a real mess of Ustinov’s face. It was classic pizza face that Ustinov received from Pulev with his nose bleeding, his face beet red and a cut over his left eye.

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Povetkin destroys Rahman; Pulev KOs Ustinov; Culcay destroys Thompson

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Image: Povetkin destroys Rahman; Pulev KOs Ustinov; Culcay destroys ThompsonBy Jim Dower: WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KO’s) easily took care of 39-year-old Hasim Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KO’s) in the 2nd round TKO tonight at the Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany. Povetkin hurt Rahman badly with a left hook to the head in the 2nd and then flurried on him until referee Gustavo Padilla stepped in and stopped the fight at 1:46 of the round.

This fight really made the World Boxing Association look bad for their decision to rank Rahman as #1 WBA contender for Povetkin off of a handful of wins over poor 3rd tier heavyweights. Rahman did not belong in the same ring with Povetkin and we saw that clearly in the 1st round when Povetkin staggered Rahman with a right hand to the head. It looked like Povetkin could have finished Rahman off right then and there, but he held back and fought cautiously for the remainder of the round. I think Povetkin could have easily have stopped Rahman in the 1st if he applied himself because Rahman was there for the taking and looked unsteady.

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Rahman-Povetkin & Pulev-Ustinov tonight in Germany

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Image: Rahman-Povetkin & Pulev-Ustinov tonight in GermanyBy Jason Kim: Tonight, unbeaten and untested WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (24-0, 16 KO’s) defends his title against former WBC heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman (50-7-2, 41 KO’s) at the Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, in Hamburg, Germany. On the undercard, heavyweights Alexander Ustinov (27-0, 21 KO’s) battles EBU heavyweight champion Kubrat Pulev (16-0, 8 KO’s) for his European Boxing Union title in an IBF heavyweight eliminator bout with the winner becoming the mandatory contender to IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Rahman, 39, feels like he’s got enough left in the tank to pull of a knockout victory over Povetkin. However, it doesn’t look likely that Rahman will be able to do this because it’s been so many years since he beat his last quality opponent. He’s ranked #1 by the WBA, but he’s not stayed relevant by facing the best heavyweights since losing to Wladimir in a failed title shot in 2008. The sad part about the sanctioning bodies is that guys like Rahman are often pushed to the very top of the division despite having facing nothing but poor opposition in the last four years.

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Rahman vs. Povetkin & Pulev vs. Ustinov: Two good heavyweight fights tomorrow

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Image: Rahman vs. Povetkin & Pulev vs. Ustinov: Two good heavyweight fights tomorrow(Picture: Photo Wende) By Jason Kim: On Saturday night in Germany, WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (24-0, 16 KO’s) defends his title against Hasim Rahman (50-7-2, 41 KO’s) in a potentially interesting fight matching mediocre heavyweight champion in the 33-year-old Povetkin facing the 39-year-old past his best Rahman.

At Friday’s weigh-in, both Rahman and Povetkin looked kind of chubby with Povetkin weighing in at 229 pounds, two pounds heavier than he was for his last fight agaisnt Marco Huck last February. Povetkin really gassed out in that fight due to the excess weight he was carrying around. Povetkin was supposedly working on his weight to trim it down some so that he’d not gasp for oxygen nonstop, but I’m not sure what happened to him. Povetkin looks like he’s been training on three giant helpings of spaghetti and meatballs daily instead of trimming down for this fight.

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Pulev faces Ustinov; Rahman takes on Povetkin on Saturday

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By Jim Dower: A pair of unbeaten European heavyweights will square off on Saturday night in an IBF heavyweight title eliminator bout for the #1 spot between unbeaten Alexander Ustinov (27-0, 21 KO’s) and ex-Olympian from the 2008 Olympics Kubrat Pulev (16-0, 8 KO’s) at the Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, in Hamburg, Germany. The Pulev-Ustinov fight will be the co-main event on the undercard of the heavyweight clash between WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin vs. Hasim Rahman. Also on the card will be light middleweight Jack Culcay facing Mark Thompson.

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