Kubrat Pulev

Kubrat Pulev Кубрат Пулев
Pulev in 2012
Statistics
Real name	Kubrat Venkov Pulev
Nickname(s)	Kobrata ("The Cobra")
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Reach	203 cm (80 in)
Nationality	Bulgarian
Born	(1981-05-04) 4 May 1981 Sofia, Bulgaria
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	26
Wins	25
Wins by KO	13
Losses	1
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  Bulgaria World Championships 2005 Mianyang Super-heavyweight European Championships 2008 Liverpool Super-heavyweight 2006 Plovdiv Super-heavyweight EU Championships 2004 Madrid Heavyweight 2005 Cagliari Super-heavyweight

Kubrat Venkov Pulev (Bulgarian: Кубрат Венков Пулев; born 4 May 1981) is a Bulgarian professional boxer. He has held the European heavyweight title twice, from 2012 to 2013 and in 2016, and has challenged once for the unified world heavyweight title in 2014. As an amateur he won multiple medals at international tournaments, including gold at the 2008 European Championships and bronze at the 2005 World Championships, all in the super-heavyweight division.

Amateur career

Heavyweight

In February 2002, Pulev won the Strandzha Cup, the oldest international boxing tournament in Europe, in his native Bulgaria. Pulev, who is nicknamed "The Cobra", beat Cuban world champion Odlanier Solís in the process. One month later, he lost a rematch to the Cuban at the Semifinal of the "Chemiepokal cup". He could not participate at the Euros 2002 in Perm after breaking his arm in sparring.

At the World Championships 2003, he lost again in the first round to Odlanier Solís 7:12.

At the European boxing championships 2004 in Pula he defeated world class Alexander Povernov (World Championships Bronze medalist 2005). Pulev did not qualify for the Olympics despite the fact that he won the last qualifying tournament in Gothenburg. He had to settle for the first reserve place because the heavyweight division consists of only 16 fighters participating in the Olympic Games (other weight divisions have 48–81).

Super-heavyweight

Pulev beat Islam Timurziev at super-heavyweight at the Strandja Cup 2005. At the EU Championships he lost the final 18:24 to Italian southpaw Roberto Cammarelle. At the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships he won bronze, losing for the third time to Odlanier Solís 11:25.

In 2006, at the Chemiepokal he beat Vyacheslav Glazkov and Magomed Abdusalamov. He finished at third place at the European Championships in Plovdiv. After defeating Glazkov again he was easily beaten (RSCO) by former victim and eventual winner, Islam Timurziev of Russia.

In 2007. he won the Chemiepokal tournament and was regarded as one of the favorites at the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships, but had a bad draw and lost early to southpaw Olympic bronze medalist and eventual winner Roberto Cammarelle.

In 2008, he won the Strandja Cup once again beating PanAm Champion Robert Alfonso 19:9.

He beat Jaroslavas Jakšto and Marko Tomasović to qualify for the Olympics 2008. There he was upset in his first bout by young Colombian Óscar Rivas.^[1]

In absence of Roberto Cammarelle, he beat Marko Tomasović, Roman Kapitonenko and Denis Sergeev to claim the European Championship.

At the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships he lost again to Roberto Cammarelle.

Professional career

Early career

Pulev turned professional, at the age of 28, in September 2009 at the Jahnsportforum in Neubrandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. He defeated Florian Benche via 2nd-round technical knockout. Pulev fought another three times in the next three months, winning them all. He ended his first professional year with 4 wins and no losses.

Career from 2012–2013

Pulev vs. Dimitrenko

On 5 May 2012, Pulev won the then-vacant EBU European Heavyweight Championship via an eleventh-round knockout of Alexander Dimitrenko.^[2]

Pulev vs. Ustinov

On 29 September 2012, Pulev knocked out previously-undefeated Alexander Ustinov, who went down in the eleventh round of an International Boxing Federation (IBF) "eliminator" (match) to determine a new #1-ranked challenger for the IBF World Heavyweight Championship.^[3]

By early-June 2013, the IBF had finally updated its heavyweight division rankings, making Pulev the official #1 contender for its heavyweight title.^[4][5]

Pulev vs. Thompson

In August 2013, Pulev fought Tony Thompson in an additional and final title-shot eliminator in Germany, winning by unanimous decision.^[6]

On 14 December 2013, Pulev defeated American Joey Abell in the fifth round by knockdown, remaining undefeated as a professional fighter.^[7]

Career from 2014–2016

Pulev vs. Klitschko

On 15 November 2014, Pulev finally got his title-shot, challenging then-IBF (as well as WBA, WBO, and IBO) World Heavyweight Champion, Wladimir Klitschko at O2 World, Hamburg, Germany. Despite making a spirited effort, Pulev suffered three knockdowns en route to being knocked out in round five by a devastating Klitschko left hook. Afterwards, Pulev stated: "Wladimir is a really good opponent, but he was lucky. I want a rematch".^[8]

Following his first professional defeat, Pulev took 11 months out, before returning to the ring on 17 October 2015 against 41-year-old journeyman George Arias (56-13, 42 KOs) in an 8-round bout. The fight was scheduled to take place at the DM-Arena in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. Pulev also announced that he would be working with German legendary coach Ulli Wegner.^[9] The fight went the distance as Pulev won a unanimous decision with scores of 80-71, 80-71 and 79-73.^[10][11]

His next fight took place in December 2015 against American journeyman and former USBA heavyweight champion Maurice Harris, the fight last 100 seconds as Pulev knocked Harris down and out.^[12][13]

Pulev vs. Chisora

On 7 May 2016, Pulev faced fellow former European champion and world title challenger Dereck Chisora (25-5, 17 KOs), in an IBF title eliminator for the vacant European heavyweight title at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg. Despite what had seemed a fairly comfortable points win for Pulev, which saw him control the fight behind the jab, the fight ended in a split decision, with two judges scoring it 118–110 and 116–112 in Pulev's favour while the third scored it 115–113 for Chisora.^[14][15]

Pulev vs. Peter

Pulev fought a returning former heavyweight world champion Samuel Peter on 3 December 2016 at the Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was the first time in his professional career fighting in his home country. In front of 15,000 at the Arena Armeec, Pulev defeated Peter via a 4th round RTD to win the vacant WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title. The fight was stopped after round three when Peter was forced to retire after dislocating his right shoulder.^[16]

Career from 2017– (Present)

Pulev vs. Johnson

On March 21, 2017 Team Sauerland announced that Pulev would once again return to the Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria against another returning boxer, 37 year old former world title challenger Kevin Johnson (30-7-1, 14 KOs) of the United States. Johnson made a return to boxing, following his first knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in 2015, on March 11 in an eight-round unanimous decision win against Jamal Woods. The fight took place on April 28, 2017.^[17] The fight went 12 rounds, but inflicted with foul play. Pulev controlled all the rounds winning 120-108 and 120-108 on two judges cards and 119-109 on the third judges card. Pulev got away with rabbit punching throughout the fight. In round 8, referee Terry O’Connor warned Pulev, however he continued to do so. Johnson fought on the back foot, although he hit Pulev with some clean shots, it wasn't enough to win the rounds.^[18] The win kept Pulev in line for a future IBF world title shot, winning his fifth consecutive fight since his sole loss to Wladimir Klitschko and also retaining his WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title.^[19][20]

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
26	Win	25–1	Kevin Johnson	UD	12	28 Apr 2017	Arena Armeec, Sofia, Bulgaria	Retained WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title
25	Win	24–1	Samuel Peter	RTD	3 (12), 3:00	3 Dec 2016	Arena Armeec, Sofia, Bulgaria	Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title
24	Win	23–1	Dereck Chisora	SD	12	7 May 2016	Barclaycard Arena, Hamburg, Germany	Won vacant European heavyweight title
23	Win	22–1	Maurice Harris	KO	1 (8), 1:59	5 Dec 2015	Inselparkhalle Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg, Germany
22	Win	21–1	George Arias	UD	8	17 Oct 2015	Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Germany
21	Loss	20–1	Wladimir Klitschko	KO	5 (12), 2:11	15 Nov 2014	O2 World, Hamburg, Germany	For IBF, The Ring, and lineal heavyweight titles
20	Win	20–0	Ivica Perkovic	RTD	3 (8), 3:00	5 Apr 2014	StadtHalle, Rostock, Germany
19	Win	19–0	Joey Abell	RTD	4 (12), 3:00	14 Dec 2013	Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, Germany	Retained IBF International heavyweight title
18	Win	18–0	Tony Thompson	UD	12	24 Aug 2013	Sport Center, Schwerin, Germany	Retained IBF International heavyweight title
17	Win	17–0	Alexander Ustinov	KO	11 (12), 1:28	29 Sep 2012	Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Hamburg, Germany	Retained IBF International and European heavyweight titles
16	Win	16–0	Alexander Dimitrenko	KO	11 (12), 2:59	5 May 2012	Messe, Erfurt, Germany	Retained IBF International heavyweight title; Won vacant European heavyweight title
15	Win	15–0	Michael Sprott	RTD	9 (12), 3:00	14 Jan 2012	Baden-Arena, Offenburg, Germany	Retained IBF International heavyweight title
14	Win	14–0	Travis Walker	UD	12	22 Oct 2011	Arena Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, Germany	Won vacant IBF International heavyweight title
13	Win	13–0	Maksym Pediura	UD	8	16 Jul 2011	Olympia Eishalle, Munich, Germany
12	Win	12–0	Derric Rossy	TKO	5 (8), 2:15	7 May 2011	Koncerthuset, Copenhagen, Denmark
11	Win	11–0	Yaroslav Zavorotnyi	UD	8	12 Feb 2011	MCH Arena, Herning, Denmark
10	Win	10–0	Paolo Vidoz	UD	8	18 Dec 2010	Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Germany
9	Win	9–0	Dominick Guinn	UD	8	30 Oct 2010	StadtHalle, Rostock, Germany
8	Win	8–0	Evgeny Orlov	DQ	7 (8), 0:16	1 May 2010	Weser-Ems-Halle, Oldenburg, Germany	Orlov disqualified for rabbit punching
7	Win	7–0	Danny Batchelder	TKO	2 (8), 0:45	13 Mar 2010	Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Germany
6	Win	6–0	Isossa Mondo	RTD	3 (8), 3:00	20 Feb 2010	Hall omnisports "La Préalle", Liège, Belgium
5	Win	5–0	Matt Skelton	KO	4 (8), 2:14	30 Jan 2010	Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, Germany
4	Win	4–0	Zack Page	UD	6	5 Dec 2009	Arena Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, Germany
3	Win	3–0	Gbenga Oloukun	UD	6	7 Nov 2009	Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg, Germany
2	Win	2–0	Serdar Uysal	TKO	4 (4), 0:56	17 Oct 2009	O2 World, Berlin, Germany
1	Win	1–0	Florian Benche	TKO	2 (4), 2:05	19 Sep 2009	Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, Germany	Professional debut

Miscellaneous

Pulev has turned down lucrative financial offers to represent Germany, viewing it as a matter of principle not to change his national allegiance.^[21][22]

References

External links

• Official website
• Professional boxing record for Kubrat Pulev from BoxRec