The Heavyweights 2014 – long live the King

09/15/201612/01/2013 Ben Thomsett

KlitschkoBanks001_PublicAddress If the road to the top in any sport is beset with challenges and hard physical graft, then boxing must rank amongst the toughest. But despite the obstacles to greatness, boxing continues to make people rich and famous, just as surely as it leaves most fighters with questionable futures. In general terms, boxing is the oldest and most maligned sport in the world today, but that doesn’t stop the support, and it certainly doesn’t stop the money. Most eyes used to be on the Heavyweights – the blue ribbon event – but a continued dominance since the Klitschko brothers gained the titles in…erm… 1694, has brought attention to the other weights, culminating in the Mayweather deal; which still beggars belief in most third world countries and gives promoters across the USA cold sweats on dark nights. Floyd is a boxing freak though, a supreme talent, and a fighter like him only comes along once every 25 years. We owe it to ourselves to make the best of the time he’s giving us in the ring. But, like the saying goes “Make hay while the sun shines” and that sun is dipping low on Floyd no matter how hard we want to tell ourselves it’s not true.

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Why Kubrat Pulev is the best fight out there for Wladimir Klitschko

10/18/2013 Stephen Marks

Kubrat_Pulev_2 Wladimir Klitschko (61-3, 51 KOs) has been widely criticized in these latter stages of his career for cherry picking his opponents. Going into his fight with Alexander Povetkin many people thought it would be a good match up, but as I feared, even though Povetkin was tougher than most, he completely failed to give Klitschko a good fight. A fighter’s challenge to a title is validated by who they have fought. This is what makes a man deserve a shot to take down Klitschko.

However, Alexander Povetkin didn’t fight a single top ten heavyweight leading up to his dull showdown with Wlad, Neither did Klitschko’s four previous opponents Francesco Pianeta, Marius Wach, Tony Thompson, and Jean Marc Mormeck. This is disgraceful and it’s no wonder that none of these men’s fights with Klitschko were even competitive. However, a fight with Kubrat Pulev could very well be the most competitive heavyweight championship fight we have seen for some time.

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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.

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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 you have to consider a … continue

Kubrat Pulev beats Tony Thompson

08/25/201308/24/2013 Ivan Ivanov

Tony Thompson, Kubrat Pulev 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.

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Kubrat Pulev with first real test against Tony Thompson tonight

08/24/2013 Vladimir S

Boxen, Wiegen in Schwerin, Kubrat Pulev, Thony Thomsen (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.

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Kubrat Pulev vs. Tony Thompson – analysis and forecast

08/21/201308/20/2013 Ivan Ivanov

Pulev_Thompson 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.

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

07/20/201907/31/2013 Wasserman Boxing

Michael Sprott(GB) vs Kubrat Pulev (BUL) 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.

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Kubrat Pulev vs. Tony Thompson fight being negotiated

07/22/2013 Michael Collins

thompson4543 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.

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

06/01/2013 Michael Collins

fury2 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.

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