Braehmer and Abraham take decision wins in Schwerin, Pulev new IBF mandatory!

08/25/2013 Wasserman Boxing

Stefano Abatangelo,Jrgen Brhmer Juergen Braehmer took another step towards another crack at a world title. On Saturday, the 34-year-old beat Stefano Abatangelo by unanimous decision (119:108, 119:108 and 115:111) in front of a sold-out home crowd at the Sport- und Kongresshalle Schwerin, Germany. “It was difficult to showcase my skills against Abatangelo as he has an awkward style,” said the light heavyweight contender who defended his European as well as his WBO International Title. “Still it was good for me to get some more rounds under my belt which will definitely help me in my next fight.” Braehmer is the mandatory to WBO Champion Sergey Kovalev.

Arthur Abraham had also to work hard to get his hands raised in Schwerin. Before a crowd of 5,600 spectators inside the arena, Abraham got the decision against durable Willbeforce Shihepo to win the WBO Intercontinental Title. The scores read 116:112, 116:113 and 117:111 in favor of the man from Berlin, Germany. This bout also marked the 10-year-anniversary of the former middleweight and super-middleweight champion’s professional career.

Abraham defeats Shihepo; Pulev defeats Thompson, Brähmer Wins – Ringside Report

08/08/202008/24/2013 Vladimir S

Photo: Wende – Former two division world champion Arthur Abraham (37-4, 28 KO’s) got what … read more

Kubrat Pulev beats Tony Thompson

08/25/201308/24/2013 Ivan Ivanov

Photo: Wende – Tonight‘s IBF eliminator in Schwerrin, Germany was supposed to be Kubrat Pulev‘s bigest test so far. He had earned his high ranking but had to wait for almost a full year for this opportunity because he was being avoided for various reasons. His opponent Tony Thompson was an avoided boxer as well and he advanced to this eliminator by beating twice Britain’s David Price. The Cobra proved to be a completely different kind of fighter and defeated the Tiger via a wide margin UD. I am tempted to say that if you read my „Analyses and forecast“ for the fight, perhaps you did not need to watch it, it is all there. Here is a quick walk through Pulev‘s winning effort:

Round 1: Both fighters started tentatively cautiously feeling out each other’s range and direction of movement. Thompson opened the score with jabs and one good left cross. Pulev seemed to be perplexed by the southpaw stance and the size of his opponent and he did not appear to move well, when he did, it wasn’t in the right direction. Pulev is a notoriously slow starter and his first good spurt was in the end of the round. TT clearly won the round.

Kubrat Pulev with first real test against Tony Thompson tonight

08/24/2013 Vladimir S

(Photo credit: Wende) The 6’4 ½” Bulgarian heavyweight Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) will be taking his real first of his 5-year pro career tonight against the 6’5” American Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO’s) at the Sport and Congress Center, Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

This is a fight where anything can happen, because Pulev hasn’t been in with good heavyweights since he turned pro at the ripe age of 29 after a long amateur career. Pulev was a good amateur fighter in Bulgaria, but he had problems when he had to face heavyweights with power like Roberto Cammarelle and Odlanier Solis. With only jab to try and beat them, Pulev was overmatched and dominated by both of them.

Kubrat Pulev vs. Tony Thompson – analysis and forecast

08/21/201308/20/2013 Ivan Ivanov

Photo: Team Sauerland – It has been a long dry season for the heavyweight division and this is a fight that could stir interest on both sides of the ocean. The fight has a mandatory eliminator status and the winner should be in line to challenge Wladimir Klitschko for his IBF title.

Both fighters are roughly the same size, Thompson is an inch taller and has a two inch reach advantage, he was also 9 pounds heavier for his last fight at 259 while Pulev weighs around 250 lbs. Their styles are different as they come from a different boxing background and different boxing schools.

Tony “The Tiger“ Thompson has 41 fights on his record and obviously has more experience as a pro. He is also 9 years older but at 41 years of age this will not be an advantage. He is a good honest pro who had to go through the motions and wait for years for his opportunity. He fell short twice against W. Klitschko but the reason he is in the mix again is because he exposed David Price twice. Price used to be a decent amateur at least on paper but could not adapt to the longer professional bouts.Thompson has a typical pro style which is individual and instinctive, he improvises with his game and this makes him somewhat unpredictable. His greatest asset against Pulev will be his southpaw stance. It will make landing the orthodox jab hard and even dangerous and the jab has been Pulev‘s best weapon.

Tony Thompson vs Kubrat Pulev on August 24 in Schwerin, Germany

07/20/201907/31/2013 Wasserman Boxing

Fight fans can look forward to a real stacked up card on August 24. With European Light Heavyweight Champion Juergen Braehmer defending his title (against Stefano Abatangelo) and super-middleweight contender Arthur Abraham (against Willbeforce Shihepo) trying to get in position for another world title shot, the show is already loaded with highlights. Now the Sport- und Kongresshalle Schwerin will also play host to a special heavyweight attraction. Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO´s) and Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO´s) will fight it out in an IBF final eliminator with the winner to challenge for the world title.

Pulev, maybe the most avoided heavyweight in recent times, cannot wait to step into the ring again. In 2012, the current IBF International and European Champion made it to the top of the rankings, beating Michael Sprott, Alexander Dimitrenko as well as Alexander Ustinov – all of them inside the distance. But as fighters like Tomasz Adamek, Tyson Fury and Ruslan Chagaev refused to be matched with the 32-year-old Bulgarian, his career came to a brief halt at the start of 2013.

Kubrat Pulev vs. Tony Thompson fight being negotiated

07/22/2013 Michael Collins

A fight between heavyweight contenders Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) and Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO’s) is being negotiated for a fight that would take place in late August on the 24th or September 14th, according to Fightnews.com. The fight will take place in Germany, and both fighters have agreed on it.

Pulev, 32, is ranked #1 by the International Boxing Federation, whereas Thompson is ranked #8. What’s not known yet is whether the Thompson-Pulev fight will be an IBF heavyweight eliminator bout to lock in a mandatory challenger for IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko or not.

Fury chooses not to face Pulev in IBF eliminator; Haye fight now likely

06/01/2013 Michael Collins

fury2 Unbeaten British heavyweight Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) will likely be facing former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye next after the purse bid for the Fury vs. Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) IBF eliminator bout was cancelled when Fury’s management opted not to take part in it.

The winner of the Fury-Pulev fight would have become the IBF mandatory challenger for IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Fury and his promoter had talked about wanting to take that course for a title shot against Wladimir, but it looks like they had a change of mind.

A Period of Transition in the Heavyweight Division

02/19/201302/19/2013 ESB

547 By Michael Montero – This Saturday will be an important one in the heavyweight landscape, featuring big step up bouts for prospects from three different parts of the world. In Huntington, New York, American Malik Scott (35-0) faces Ukrainian Vyacheslav Glazkov (14-0), while on the other side of the pond; Englishman David Price (15-0) squares off against American veteran Tony Thompson (36-3) in Liverpool. For Scott, a pro since 2000 who’s been ridiculed for never stepping up, it’s the moment of truth. For Glazkov, a bronze medalist in the 2008 Beijing games, this is his second straight bout on American airwaves and easily the biggest test in his short pro career. And for Price, the 6’8” giant (himself a former bronze medalist), an empathic win over Thompson puts him on the fast track for an eventual title shot.

This is a microcosm of things to come. Things are changing in the heavyweight division. New history is being written, yet old history is being repeated. It’s all part of a cycle: weak, average and strong eras – with the occasional golden era sprinkled in every few generations – only to collapse and repeat again. One could argue that the years following Lennox Lewis’ retirement were an average era, with quality fighters like Chris Byrd, Lamon Brewster, Hasim Rahman, Andrew Golota, both Klitschkos and several others, but no clear owner of the division. In recent years we’ve suffered through a weak era, with the Klitschko brothers having cleaned out the entire division and seemingly no willing, proven, legitimate challenge for the alpha dogs. Yet things are shaping up to start getting pretty damn interesting over the next few years, and fans all over the world are getting excited.

Povetkin stops Rahman’ Pulev stops Ustinov; Culcay defeats Thompson

09/14/201609/29/2012 ESB

By Marcus Richardson: In a fight that should have never been allowed to happen, WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KO’s) destroyed 39-year-old former WBC heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KO’s) in the 2nd round at the on Saturday night at the Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.

Rahman just looked shot to pieces, like a fighter that didn’t belong in the same ring with Povetkin due to his faded skills. In the 2nd round, Povetkin staggered Rahman with a left hook to the head that caused Rahman to staggered back against the ropes. Povetkin then teed off on Rahman with combinations until the referee finally stopped the fight at 1:46 of the round.

***

Unbeaten EBU heavyweight champion Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) defeated the huge 6’7 1/2″ Alexander Ustinov (27-1, 21 KO’s) by an 11th round knockout in an IBF heavyweight title eliminator bout.