The Champ seems invincible, just too damn big and powerful for anyone in the division. He is aptly named Dr. Steelhammer. Many years ago he was bludgeoned, walloped and clobbered by three different opponents. Instead of those kayo losses destroying his confidence, and convincing him he was in the wrong profession, they banged, pounded and forged him and his nickname into one unassailable, indomitable force.
The audience at the O2 arena was roaring with excitement and there was huge support for the challenger Kubrat Pulev who was a visitor at Klitschko’s home turf. The valiant Pulev jumped right at Wladimir from the opening bell and tried to brawl with him at close at middle range. Klitschko did not back down and after some wrestling and jostling for position he found “the frequency” and exploited a big opening in Pulev’s defense.
Pulev kept his right hand up but too far forward inviting Wladimir to throw left hooks. Klitschko was cautious at first watching out for traps but tested the opening, connected and put Pulev down with a left hook in the first round. “The Cobra” rose quickly and went forward again making the same mistake and Klitschko repeated the exercise with the left hook knocking Pulev down for the second time. Pulev beat the count again and fought back at the champion who tried to finish him in the first round but the challenger survived somehow.
Bulgarian challenger Kubrat Pulev (20-1, 11 KOs) proved to be too weak in the chin tonight in getting stopped in the 5th round by IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (63-3, 53 KOs) at the O2 Arena in Hamburg, Germany.
Pulev was knocked down four times in the fight from left hooks. He was down twice in the 1st, once in the 3rd and a final time in the 5th. Referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight at 2:11 of the 5th after Wladimir put Pulev down with a left hook to the head that put Pulev down on his back. The shot caused a huge swelling under Pulev’s right eye.
In a recent interview with Wladimir Klitschko, the Ukrainian heavyweight champion has revealed that he is been annoyed with the way his future opponent Kubrat Pulev has been acting leading up to the fight. The Bulgarian challenger is slated to face Klitschko this coming Saturday in Hamburg, Germany.
It seems as though Pulev has been voicing his concerns more and more as the fight gets closer. This has been happening so much, that Wladimir Klitschko could only compare it to the barrage of issues that David Haye had when their fight was on the horizon.
Unbeaten contender Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs) will be coming into tonight’s fight against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs) with a slight weight advantage when they meet up tonight in Hamburg, Germany. During Friday’s weigh-in, Pulev weighed in at 246.92 pounds compared to Wladimir’s 245.82.
Despite the fact that Wladimir Klitschko has been successfully defending his titles and dominating the heavyweight division for over a decade, the criticism of his ‘boring’ style and hand-picked opponents is only growing. It has always been either an opponent not in his class or a dreadfully boring bout, with Wladimir Klitschko doing something to cause that.
I must admit that Wladimir is not an explosive fighter, and comparing him to the former champions who were, is not exactly a direct evaluation. The reason for this non-linear comparison being flawed is because while his ability to stand and trade is not quite there, his technical skill is probably one of the best in the heavyweight history.
Kubrat Pulev’s grievances with the way he is treated by Klitschko and company are piling up before their fight on Nov. 15 at the O2 Arena in Hamburg, Germany. Pulev had to wait for a long time for this opportunity and he saw the fight postponed once due to an injury Klitschko sustained. Ever since he brought the Olympic drug testing issue, the Bulgarian is treated as a ‘persona non grata” by K2 promotions. He had a hard time getting tickets for friends – he was treated as a regular customer and advised to order tickets on-line if he could find any.
Now Pulev is at a loss with the gloves for the fight. The gloves Klitschko favors were agreed upon and those are gloves manufactured specifically for Wladimir. “I can’t find the Klitschko gloves”, Pulev says, “those are the gloves Wladimir trains with, they are not available for sale on the market”. Klitschko apparently would not let him try his and “The Cobra” still has not tried on the gloves he is supposed to wear on fight night and he does not know how to wrap up his hands for these gloves. He compared the situation to “going into a Formula 1 race without knowing what kind of tires you will have on the car”.
On November the 15th Kubrat Pulev and Wladimir Klitschko will fight each other in the ring for the heavyweight championship of the world. Most people predict a tough fight for Klitschko and most probably a win by points or late KO, there are some who believe that Pulev can pull the rabbit out of the hat – but is he capable of doing that?
By watching Pulev’s fights one can agree that he is a well skilled boxer and has a great jab, now that just by itself isn’t enough to beat Klitschko because he is incredibly skilled himself and has a superior jab. Klitschko is also stronger and has a great right hand that seems to be missing in Pulev. But I had come across some interesting articles and opinions about Kubrat, basically all the Bulgarian trainers who worked with him since he was a kid say that he isn’t showing all of his abilities in the ring. Indeed in some of his amateur fights he had shown a bit more action than the jab, jab, right hand combo that we are used to since he become pro.
In an interview for Polsat TV a couple of days ago, W. Klitschko bluntly dismissed Kubrat Pulev’s chances of becoming a real challenge. Wlad did not like the question whether Pulev would be a tougher opponent for him than Alex Leapai and asked in return what the reporter would say if Pulev got KOed in the first round.
W. Klitschko is not a trash talker and he is generally very tolerant towards his opponent’s antics and stunts. He usually has kind words for his foes but he seems to have none this time especially after Pulev brought up the Olympic drug testing issue. Klitschko is very sensitive to this subject and he blames Pulev’s promotional team, Sauerland, for trying to “get under his skin”.
„I am very happy that we have found a new date for the fight in Hamburg so quickly. Since the arena was already sold out, we are particularly glad for the fans of Wladimir Klitschko. Our thanks go to the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and our partners RTL and o2 World Hamburg, who both enabled the new fight date in the originally planned arena”, Klitschko manager Bernd Bönte said.