Kubrat Pulev

Kubrat Pulev Кубрат Пулев
Pulev in 2012
Statistics
Real name	Kubrat Venkov Pulev
Nickname(s)	Кобрата (The Cobra)
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Reach	203 cm (80 in)
Nationality	Bulgarian
Born	4 May 1981 Sofia, Bulgaria
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	23
Wins	22
Wins by KO	12
Losses	1
Medal record Men's boxing Representing  Bulgaria World Amateur Championships 2005 Mianyang Super heavyweight European Amateur Championships 2008 Liverpool Super heavyweight 2006 Plovdiv Super heavyweight EU Amateur 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 is a former European heavyweight champion and world title challenger. As an amateur he won multiple medals at international tournaments, including gold in the super heavyweight division at the 2008 European Championships.

Amateur career

Heavyweight with 201lbs/ 91kg limit

In February 2002, Pulev won the Strandja 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

He 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

On 5 May 2012, Pulev won the then-vacant EBU (a.k.a., European) Heavyweight Championship via an 11th-Round knockout of Alexander Dimitrenko.^[2]

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]

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

Miscellaneous

Pulev has turned down lucrative financial offers to represent Germany, viewing it as a matter of principle not to change his national allegiance.^[9][10]

Professional boxing record

References

1. "Medallists by weight category" (PDF). AIBA. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
2. Dimitrenko vs Pulev Results: Kubrat Pulev Knocks Out Exhausted Dimitrenko in 11. Bad Left Hook (5 May 2012).
3. Alexey Sukachev and Per Ake Persson (29 September 2012) Kubrat Pulev Knocks Out Alexander Ustinov, Culcay Wins – Boxing News. Boxingscene.com. Retrieved on 9 October 2013.
4. Bg Daily News – Kubrat Pulev is number 1 in IBF ratings. Bg-daily-news.eu (7 May 2013). Retrieved on 9 October 2013.
5. IBF. Ibf-usba-boxing.com. Retrieved on 9 October 2013.
6. Kubrat Pulev defeats Tony Thompson via U.D.. GiveMeSport (26 August 2013). Retrieved on 9 October 2013.
7. Braehmer defeats Oliveira; Pulev stops Abell
8. Wladimir Klitschko retains title again
9. "Кубрат отказал милиони от Германия, няма как да играe за друга държава". topsport.bg. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
10. "Кобрата: време е Кличко пак да бъде нокаутиран". topsport.bg. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
11. "Kubrat Pulev's career boxing record". Boxrec.com. Retrieved 2013-12-01.

External links

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