Wladimir Klitschko: “When I hear those complaints, it’s the best compliment I can get for my work”

11/13/2014 Vitali Shaposhnikov

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 Vows to Turn the Cold War into Ring War against Wladimir Klitschko

11/13/2014 Ivan Ivanov

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”.

Kubrat Pulev – the X in the equation?

11/03/2014 Atanas Ivanov

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.

Wladimir Klitschko hints at an early outcome of his fight vs. Kubrat Pulev on Nov.15

10/23/2014 Ivan Ivanov

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”.

Pulev stuck waiting for Wladimir to heal up

08/27/201408/26/2014 Vladimir S

IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs) got some bad news on Monday about his opponent IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs) suffering an injury to his left biceps while training.

There fight, originally scheduled for September 6th, has been moved back tentatively to November sometime at the O2 World Arena in Hamburg, Germany. The date of the fight depends on how quickly Wladimir’s bicep tear heals. We are talking about a 38-year-old man, so it’s possible that it could need more time than November if the healing is slow.

Klitschko injured during sparring

08/27/201408/25/2014 Bill Phanco

Earlier today, it was announced that IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs) suffered an injury to his left bicep injury while training for his previously scheduled September 6th title defense against Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs).

In the press statement sent out by Klitschko’s management, it was only mentioned that Wladimir had injured his left biceps while training without going into details about how the injury occurred. According to BILD, Wladimir was injured during a sparring session with one of his 15 sparring partners that had traveled to Going, Austria to help the 38-year-old Wladimir get ready for the fight.

Klitschko vs. Pulev: Kubrat’s lack of power puts him at a huge disadvantage

08/25/201408/24/2014 Vladimir S

#1 IBF Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs) has done a good job of staying unbeaten enough to get a title shot against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-2, 52 KOs) on September 6th at the O2 World Arena, Altona, in Hamburg, Germany.

Without any punching power to speak of, Pulev is ready at a huge disadvantage against the 6’6” Wladimir in this fight. Up until now, Pulev has been little more than a tall jabbing machine. He gets by with his superb jab and his sound defensive skills.

With his jab, long reach, and his retreating style of fighting, he’s been able to beat everyone that his promoters at Sauerland Events have put in front of him thus far during his career. Sauerland has done a good job of being strategic with their match-making.

Klitschko working with 15 sparring partners to get ready for Pulev

08/22/201408/21/2014 Vladimir S

IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs) is reportedly working really hard in training camp for his title defense against #1 IBF Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs) on September 6th at the O2 World Arena in Hamburg, Germany.

Wladimir is training in Austria, and he’s working with 15 sparring partners, one of which is 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Anthony Joshua. With Wladimir’s deep pockets, he can afford to have a large number of sparring partners and in train in beautiful surroundings.

Anthony Joshua sparring with Wladimir Klitschko to get him ready for Kubrat Pulev fight

08/21/201408/19/2014 Vladimir S

2012 super heavyweight gold medalist Anthony Joshua is in Austria sparring with IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs) to get him ready for his fight next month against unbeaten #1 IBF Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs) at the O2 World Arena in Hamburg, Germany.

Joshua will be at the Klitschko camp for 10 days of sparring, which should help both fighters improve. This is great for Joshua because he gets to improve his game while at the same time seeing how far apart he is with Wladimir in terms of talent.

Wladimir Klitschko faces tough test in Kubrat Pulev on September 6th

08/18/2014 Vladimir S

In what is easily the toughest test since his fight against former WBA champ David Haye in 2011, IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs) will be putting his belts on the line against #1 IBF Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KOs) next month on September 6th at the O2 World Arena, Altona, in Hamburg, Germany.

Pulev, 6’4 ½”, matches up well with the 6’6” Wladimir in terms of size and his ability to jab with power. Wladimir has a slight height advantage of a little less than two inches, but they’re both basically the same in the jab department.