Vladimir S

Vladimir S. is a Ukraine-born boxing writer now based in the United States, with more than 20 years covering the sport at amateur and professional level across Europe and America. He first built his reputation in Berlin, chronicling the rise of top prospects and European title fights before moving stateside. Over the years he has reported from ringside at world championship bouts in London, Berlin, Hamburg, Las Vegas, and Madison Square Garden.

Marco Huck vs. Mirko Larghetti tonight in Germany

Marco Huck vs. Mirko Larghetti tonight in Germany

WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (37-2-1, 26 KOs) will be looking to tie former WBO cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson’s record for the most title defenses at 13 tonight in Huck’s fight against #12 WBO Mirko Larghetti (21-0, 13 KOs) at the Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Huck, 29, is virtually guaranteed to tie and eventually break the record because Larghetti is someone who is so far out of his league in this fight that it’s hardly even worth mentioning. Huck is clearly going to win this fight unless he suffers some kind of injury.

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Pulev stuck waiting for Wladimir to heal up

Pulev stuck waiting for Wladimir to heal up

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.

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

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

#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.

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Marco Huck vs. Mirko Larghetti this Saturday in Germany

Marco Huck vs. Mirko Larghetti this Saturday in Germany

WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (37-2-1, 26 KOs) will be taking what should be a very easily voluntary title defense this Saturday, August 30th against fringe contender #12 WBO Mirko Larghett (21-0, 13 KOs) at the Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

This will be the 29-year-old Huck’s 13th title defense of his WBO strap that he won back in 2009 with a 12 round decision over Victor Ramirez.

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Klitschko working with 15 sparring partners to get ready for Pulev

Klitschko working with 15 sparring partners to get ready for Pulev

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.

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

joshua552012 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.

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Denis Boytsov vs. Timur Musafarov on August 30th on Huck-Larghetti card

Denis Boytsov vs. Timur Musafarov on August 30th on Huck-Larghetti card

Heavyweight Denis Boytsov (33-1, 26 KOs) will be back in the ring near the end of the month in a fight against little known Timur Musafarov (6-1, 5 KOs) in a tune-up bout on the same card as Marco Huck vs. Miko Larghetti title fight at the Gerry Weber Stadion in Halle/Westfalen, Germany, according to Fightnews.

The Boytsov-Musafarov fight will be the co-feature bout on the card. That’s kind of fitting because the main event between WBO cruiserweight champion Huck and #12 WBO Larghetti shapes up to be a horrible mismatch, and adding another mismatch between Boytsov and Musafarov seems to fit in well with the main event of the card.

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

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

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.

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Hernandez defeats Arslan by split decision

IBF cruiserweight champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez (29-1, 14 KOs) successfully defended his title tonight in defeating 43-year-old former WBA cruiserweight champion Firat Arslan (34-8-2, 21 KOs) by a 12 round split decision at the Messehalle, Erfurt, Thüringen, Germany. The final judges’ scores were 115-113, 116-113 for Hernandez and 115-113 for Arslan.

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