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Bulgarian heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev stepped up a level last night at the Sport and Congress Center in Schwerin, Germany, defending his IBF International crown by UD over two-time world title challenger Tony Thompson as the headlining bout of a big fight card.
Pulev, now 18-0 (9), had been out of the ring for nearly a year following his 2012 victories over Michael Sprott, Alexander Dimitrenko and Alexander Ustinov and the 32 year old from Sofia started slowly against his southpaw rival.
At 41 and following two competitive losses to world champion Wladimir Klitschko, Washington DC based Thompson, 38-4 (26), had kept his career going by playing spoiler in England, extinguishing the ambitions of David Price with two knockouts earlier this year and was hoping to turn the same trick against Pulev.
But “The Cobra” proved much more mobile and quicker than Price, giving the left-handed slugger Thompson a lot of respect in the early rounds before beginning to work his way in behind a sharp jab.
From that point, Pulev was able to land follow up right hands but was clipped at times with big lefts from the awkward, cagey American but proved to have a solid chin to go along with his good fundamental boxing skills.
By the championship rounds, Thompson was tired and looking for one big shot to turn things around but Pulev never gave that opportunity, cruising to a 118-110, 117-111, 116-112 points win.
The contest was an IBF eliminator for the right to face Wladimir Klitschko, who has a big bout in Moscow coming up against WBA “regular” champion Alexander Povetkin.
Should Klitschko defeat Povetkin, a contest with Pulev could be interesting if the Bulgarian can gain inside access and force the somewhat chinny champion into a slugfest.
But Pulev seems to prefer standing at a distance, as does Klitschko, and we’ll likely see a boring, low volume punching bout.
If Povetkin upsets Klitschko, a bout with Pulev would be a far more interesting proposition.
Two other bouts of interest were on the bill as former WBO light heavyweight champ Juergen Braehmer, 41-2 (31), retained his European title for the second time with a 119-108, 119-018, 115-111 points verdict over Italian champion Stefano Abatangelo, 17-3-1 (6), who at 5’7 was at a huge height disadvantage against the nearly six foot tall Braehmer.
Following his dethronement as WBO super middle king in March by Robert Stieglitz, former two-weight world champ Arthur Abraham, 37-4 (28), returned to ring last night, looking to get back in the WBO race by competing for the vacant Intercontinental strap.
In what was expected to be a tune-up bout, Interim WBO Africa belt holder Wilberforce Shihepo, 20-7 (15), of Namibia obviously thought otherwise.
The “Black Mamba” from Windhoek was a windmill in the ring, outworking the reserved former champ throughout the fight. Abraham offered solid defense early but tired over the second half of the scrap and was getting hit.
However, Abraham’s sporadic but fairly accurate offensive forays were favored by the judges, who awarded the Germany based Armenian a 117-111, 116-113, 116-112 victory.
With the win, Abraham could be looking at a third fight with WBO ruler Stieglitz.
