Wladimir Klitschko vs. Kubrat Pulev: TV Info and Final Predictions
Not often does a dominant champion in the world of boxing take on the top contender, but that is what fans around the globe will get Saturday night when Kubrat Pulev challenges Wladimir Klitschko.
Klitschko (62-3, 52 KO) will put his WBO, IBO, WBA and IBF titles on the line against Pulev (20-0, 11 KO), easily the top contender at the moment.
After a delay, a surprise pick up by HBO and plenty of shenanigans and trash talk in between, the two will step into the ring at the O2 World Arena Saturday to determine if the heavyweight division will have new life breathed into it, or if things remain as they have for about a decade.
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When: Saturday, Nov. 15 at 4:45 p.m. ET/PT
Where: O2 World Arena, Altona, Hamburg, Germany
TV: HBO
The Story So Far
This one has a bit of bad blood to it.
Pulev is a mandatory defense for Klitschko, and one that was supposed to take place back on September 6. But the champion suffered a bicep injury during training and was forced to postpone the fight until its current date.
The challenger was having none of it.
"It's complete nonsense," Pulev said, per Angel Krasimirov of Reuters, via the Daily Mail. "If it's a slight injury, you know what medicine can do today and he has a good staff of specialists, he would have been able to recover in time."
Regardless, tensions only increased when one side allegedly neglected press responsibilities, as captured by Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix:
Believe it or not, one could make the argument that Klitschko is free to handle the situation however he wants. The man holds each title belt in the division except one and has not lost since 2004. At 38 years of age, his skill set has shown no major red flags in terms of deterioration.
Klitschko was last seen putting on a dominant show on the way to a fifth-round knockout of Australia's Alex Leapai, although the challenger was visibly outmatched from the beginning.
The same will never be whispered about Pulev. The 33-year-old former European champion became the mandatory challenger back in 2013 and has since knocked out Joey Abell and Ivica Perkovic.
Cut through the nonsense and what fans have is not necessarily an evenly matched showdown, but one that promises to be of better quality than much of what the division's title fights have had to offer in recent years.
Final Prediction
This one is going to last a while, folks.
Pulev is no Leapai. He is experienced, conditioned and physically matches up with the champion quite well. Klitschko comes in at 6'6" with an 81" reach (per BoxRec). The challenger is 6'4" and has an 80" reach.
Now, an underrated element of Klitschko's approach in recent years has been his improving stamina. He is certainly a workhorse who can go the distance. But he will not be imposing his physical will on the challenger this time around, and as Ryan Songalia of Ring Magazine points out, said challenger has another distinct thing going for him that those before him did not:
Pulev paces himself quite well with excellent footwork. Expect him to cause the champion's corner plenty of concern over the course of the first five rounds. His ability to dive into the fray, land a few violent jabs and hop back out will give Klitschko some problems.
But as great as Pulev is when it comes to his ability to conserve energy and unleash a hellacious assault late in fights, Klitschko is even better.
Most focus on the champ's hard-hitting ways, but when he has to get technical and go the distance, he can do just that. Klitschko's steady, cerebral jabs will keep Pulev at bay before an eventual power shot that ends things late.
Pulev needs a perfect performance for a win. Klitschko simply will not allow that to happen once he gets a taste of his first true test in quite some time.
Prediction: Klitschko via Round 8 knockout.
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