Klitschko once again extends his heavyweight reign with a 5th round KO of the ex-undefeated contender, Kubrat Pulev.
As suspected, the fight was full of holding with a few rabbit punches added in for good measure. The first round saw Pulev on the attack trying to land his power shots. While trying to do so, he was caught by a left hook and fell to the canvas. Pulev was then knocked down again in same round, by the same shot. Both of these knockdowns could have been avoided if Pulev didn't rush in like some kind of wild animal, especially against a guy like Klitschko.
After being dropped twice in the 1st round it is easy to guess that Pulev had a massive confidence drop and so would not be willing to fire off as many shots as he had wanted to like in the 1st round.
Pulev showed hardly any head movement and so was just a massive target for Wladimirs powerful jab-right hand combinations and sneaky left hooks.
In the 3rd round, Pulev was dropped once again by Klitschko's left hook... Talk about learning from your mistakes. Although, a slight push helped Pulev on his way to the floor. Wladimir appeared to be purposely holding onto Pulev so he could keep the fight going for a bit longer. Just to give the fans their monies worth. If he had not done this, he would have KO'ed Pulev in the first or second round.
The 5th round saw the same formula from the rest of the fight. Few punches thrown, holding and then Pulev, once again, leaves himself wide open while throwing his right hand and Wladimir lands with the same left hook that dropped Pulev the last 3 times.
Pulev could have easily avoided the knockdowns and possible the KO by:
- Throwing his right hand quicker and pulling it back into place before Wladimir launched his left hook
- Being less aggressive in the opening rounds and instead waiting until Klitschko had become tired in the later rounds
- Using much more head movement (Obviously not quite as much as David Haye but even a little would have helped)
- Using more lateral movement to avoid Wladimir's counters (Similar to that of Kovalev when he faced Hopkins).
So, once again, Wladimir Klitschko continues to cement himself as one of the best Heavyweights to ever grace the planet. After this performance, I can't see many current heavyweight's giving Wlad any problems whatsoever. Wilder is still untested, his next fight may silence some of his critics if he wins. Fury has the heart of a lion but, like Pulev, is open to counters. Like Wilder, Stiverne needs to prove himself as he has only really beaten one decent heavy; an overweight Arreola. Povetkin has already been beaten by Klitschko and Glazkov has only beaten one 'okay' heavyweight; Adamek, who was TKO10 by Wladimir's older brother Vitali.
I expect to see Klitschko continue his winning streak until he himself wants to end it.
Airing live from Germany, Wladimir Klitschko faces off against the undefeated Bulgarian, Kubrat Pulev, on the 15th of November.
The fight was meant to take place earlier on in the year but was set forward because Klitschko injured himself in training. With the fight postponed, both fighters were able to train more and become more focused for the fight. I expect it was especially helpful for Pulev as he had no injury to get over and so could stay calm and maintain a steady diet and fitness schedule. Obviously he wouldn't have over-trained but he would have kept himself in good shape throughout the time they were meant to be fighting. Klitschko, however, would have been worrying about his injury. So his fitness levels would not have been kept at a consistent level.
With that in mind, I expect this fight to be a competitive one. The hungry bulgarian contender vs the experienced Ukrainian champion. Pulev will enter the ring with a record of 20-0 (11). With wins over Tony Thompson (UD), Ustinov (KO11) and Dimitrenko (KO11), all of whom are no push overs, fans can expect Pulev to give Klitschko a solid test. Especially with Pulev's awkward style.
With a record of 62-3 (52) wins, Wladimir will enter the ring as favourite as he has proved that he can still compete with top contenders. Klitschko's last 2 out of 3 fights have been against rather disappointing opposition (Exluding Povetkin). After his loss to Wladimir, Pianeta went on to KO fighters nobody has even heard of. While Alex Leapai has just lost to the Wilder leftover, Malik Scott.
Regardless, I still believe Klitschko to be on top of his game. I expect the first few rounds will be won by Pulev. He has quite an awkward style but I expect Klitschko to figure him out from the 4th round onwards. From there on, Klitschko will pepper the contender with 1-2 combinations, step in, and hold onto Pulev. While in the hold, he will use his sheer size to weaken and tire the slightly smaller Bulgarian.
It could be possible for Pulev to use his movement to move away from Klitschko's hold but I think in the end, Wladimir's experience at top level will prove too much for the Bulgarian.
