I fear Pulev might freeze in the ring. Not sure how strong his mind is and Wlad could land big shots early if Pulev just stands there like a statue.
This fight will go the distance, bet on it. A combination of: 1- Wlad ageing 2- Pulev's good chin 3- wlad being cautious against such a danger and Pulev's mobility
Great post. Exactly my thoughts I've never saw him hurt against Thomson. Being Bulgarian I'm prolly biased as hell but listening to Pulev interviews and seeing his demeanor the guy is on a mission. He is extremely motivated, concentrated and he believes he can win. That means he has a chance. Does he have the boxing arguments. I'm not sure. Wlad might turn old over night, his camps was maybe not the best. I think that Pulev has a shot and I'm almost certain that he is going the distance.
Even as an amateur Pulev displayed a stout set of whiskers. He fought a lot of top quality opponents and big punchers in the unpaid ranks and wasn't knocked out. Roman Romanchuk x 2, Roberto Cammarelle x 3, Solis x 4, Islam Timurziev x 2, Sultan Ibragimov, Alexeev, Glazkov x 4, Zhang Zhilei, Zuyev, Alfonso, Sebastian Kober, Abdusalamov, Bogdan Dinu, Oscar Rivas, Teper etc.
Yeah, Walker can definitely crack. That shot he caught Pulev with would've knocked a lot of other HWs out. It was more an equilibrium shot that made his legs do a little dance IIRC. And even then Pulev recovered really quickly.
In pro's his chin looks good.But if I remember amateur fights,then that is different story.He was konock down numoreus times by big and not so big punchers.He was stopped by Timurziev in third round.
Pulew v was never stopped in amateurs he only had 1 count! That are his coaches and his words as the guy up there said he had loads of top level fights against good punchers and he was never down!
I've not heard of Pulev being knocked out or stopped (a legitimate stoppage not on the outscored rule or an injury) in the amateurs. It says Timurziez stopped him on the outscored rule and the only other stoppage loss on his record is listed as an injury one.
Pulev's chin is good enough to endure a chess match which is the way Klitschko has been fighting for the past few years. Chin good but swelling around the eyes from constant strong jab is a different story.:!:
Yep. We will find out this afternoon what kind of Chin Pulev has as Wlad is a savage puncher. If Pulev is to have ANY success in this fight he is going to have to have a Chin. Chins matter in Boxing.