(Photo Wende) By Scott Gilfoid: It looks like unbeaten Bulgarian heavyweight Kubrat Pulev (18-0, 9 KO’s) wasn’t altogether pleased with his 12 round unanimous decision win over 41-year-old Tony Thompson (38-4, 26 KO’s) in Germany last Saturday night. Pulev won the fight by the scores of 116-112, 118-110, and 117-111.
However, he looked far from impressive. You can really say that the only reason Pulev won the fight was because Thompson got tired. I had Thompson winning the first four rounds, as did many other boxing fans who saw the fight.
The win now makes the 6’4 ½” Pulev the mandatory challenger for IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, but Wladimir did a lot better job in beating Thompson than Pulev did. Pulev had to struggle to win; whereas Wladimir crushed Thompson in 6 rounds last year in July in their 2nd fight together.