Pulev's resume is good and yet I don't rate him

I think he doesn't want to fight him yeah.

 

We've been through this already. Saureland are the ones that want the Pulev fight later in the year for obvious financial gains rather than K2. Summer outdoor stadium fight = far more money. Can't say I'm surprised they tried to sneak Boystov in with an early shot after we seen what level he's at at the moment. They were obviously terririfed of him being exposed before then. Even Pulev knew this.

 

My opinion of Pulev is similar. He's got a better resume than many heavies today and far better than some fighters that have gotten title shots in recent years.

But he doesn't impress me. He's solid but nothing about him makes me believe he will ever be a dominant champion. He just doesn't have the weapons that some lower ranked fighters have. He doesn't hit hard, he isn't particularly fast, he's not a big heavy for this era, his technique is OK but not amazing, he has an awkward effectiveness to his style. He seems to have an OK chin and doesn't show up in horrible shape like so many other contenders and is just consistent.

 

A dominant champion? How about just thinking he is the real deal and a threat to Wladimir? Anyone who doesn't "rate" Pulev DKSAB

 

You don't have to have a resume to fight Wlad. You better off just fighting bums and if you don't look risky Wlad will give you a shot.

 

I think he'll give Wlad a better fight than anyone else has done in a long time as he is a solid heavyweight and a worthy mandatory.

While he doesn't have many strengths he doesn't have any glaring weaknesses either. But I don't give him any chance of causing the upset he just doesn't have the tools to be a genuine threat to Wlad. I just can't see what he could do to beat Wlad.

I kind of see Pulev like John Ruiz. Ruiz was nothing special but built a good resume, beating more naturally gifted fighters by being consistent and awkwardly effective with his jab and grab style. Ruiz had a lot of success but nobody ever really saw him as the best or saw him to be a potentially great fighter despite his success.

 

Resume is everything.

At worst, you could only rate Wladimir and Povetkin above him.

 

Interesting points. I can only speak to having seen him fight the big Russian that quit from a jab. I would have assumed Pulev was running on all power and a decent chin, but I guess not.

 

Vlad has not reason to duck anybody, he knocked Wilder down with a jab, beat him all over the ring in sparring for the Wach fight...............Pulev said he wanted one more fight before fighting Vlad. I saw him fight Ustinov, who is much better than Wilder any day. Pulev is good fighter. Wilder? Will he fight a rematch with Sconiers?

 

There is this idea that Pulev does a lot of things good, but nothing spectacular. While to a large extent this is true, there are two things in which he is really exceptional - his foot speed is quite possibly the best in the heavyweight division, which is very impressive having in mind he's pretty big at 6'5 and 250 pounds, which allows him to control the distance at which he's fighting pretty well. Although this is great strength of his game, he sometimes relies too much on his foot speed in defense and gets caught while backing away in straight lines(Ustinov caught him like that, Walker caught him like that), instead of using his hands and head movement, as well as moving sideways for defense.

The second thing he's really great at is his jab. I am not certain it is as good as Wlad's jab, we'd have to see them in action against eachother to see it, but it is extremely accurate and he puts his weight into it. It's not just a pawing jab or rangefinder, he really uses it as a weapon. He has stopages against Skelton with jab to the body, against Dimitrenko, he annihilated huge Ustinov by busting his face all night with the jab. Even against Thompson he managed to do something that even Wlad had problems doing - after he adjusted after the first 2-3 rounds, he started consistently landing the jab on probably the most awkward southpaw out there.

His main weaknesses are his lack of power and his inside game - he just does not fight inside, he is like Wlad in shis regard - whenever somebody comes in, he tries to tie up and lean on them.

The other parts of his game are indeed good but not great.

There is one part of his game that is being consistently overlooked, as well - his intangibles and his stamina - he's damn determined and focused, he really believes in himself. He doesn't slip, he does not lose concentration, he follows the plan. Another thing - he's shown several times already - he can switch things around and adjust to opponents style with relative ease. About his stamina - he carried 305 pound Ustinov on his shoulders in tons of clinches for 11 rounds and looked much fresher than him in the final rounds. I don't think he's ever lost a round or looked tired past round 9.

I think precisely those strengths of his are the reason why he doesn't look spectacular in his fights - great feel of distance, great jab, and fighting to the plan, not engaging in brawling and vicious exchanges. He trusts his stamina and does not rush things and doesn't take risks. Yeah, he's not the most exciting fighter to watch, but it's damn impressive to see his effectiveness.

About a potential fight with Wlad - I definitely give the edge to Wlad(for me it's insane for anybody to think Pulev is the favourite in this one), but I think Pulev is one of the few fighters who can genuinely present some danger to Wlad, especially if his jab turns out to be on par with or better than Wlad's. Just think about it - when is the last time we've seen Wlad getting consistently hit? Imagine if it happens that Pulev is able to consistently land the jab and follow it with straight right every now and then? Wlad won't be able to clinch and hold Pulev like he does with most other fighters, simply because Pulev, just like Wlad doesn't fight inside, and even if Wlad tries playing dirty, Pulev has a good arsenal of dirty tricks himself... he's a mean motherf***er(just look at the last round of his fight vs Oloukun). Now Wlad still has much better power, better handspeed, better combinations, better hooks, better straight right, and would deservedly be the overwhelming fave for the fight, but out of all the contenders, I believe Pulev probably has the best chance of defeating him.

 

Why would he duck Pulev? he would beat him easy Pulev is ****.

 

Great post. Couldn't agree more

 

Wlad is ****. Pulev would not lose to anybody Wlad has beaten.

 

Povetkin?