Reports that Itauma reportedly going to take Okolie over Gassiev

Off topic but what did you think of Riddick Bowe?

 

Complicated... Decent resume, and could look seriously good at times but the terror of Lewis just looks awful and puts a rather large question mark on things.

 

Pulev emerged in the Klitschko era, wasn't anything more than a top 10 hw back then, hasn't had any impressive performances recently win or lose and is roughly 45 now.

It's like saying the version of Whyte that Itauma destroyed is better than Kevin Lerena and name wise he is. But in reality Whyte was a mummy that night, ready for the taking

 

Whens the last time Pulev beat a ranked contender ? A better legacy isnt indicative of current Pulevs state. He is far removed from his prime. He's not even gatekeeper level now, especially after he lost to a worse version of Chisora that he dominated years back. Dillian Whyte has better wins than Pulev bro

What many people here are trying to tell you, is that Pulev at 44 and lethargic might not be a better fighter than a gatekeeper level fighter such as Lerena. He was never even a champion. Thats it. Of course on paper Pulev is better, nobody is debating that

 

At this point so is Pulev, he's got nothing left

 

Wallins sucks more than Lerena and the rest are shot.

We just have to agree to disagree. Wallin is not competitive against Dubois and Huni, he's featherfisted and basic, do you actually think he would be ? Dubois would have an easy night, Wallin is a non threat. Huni would humiliate that guy, there is no route to victory. Lerena is a gatekeeper to me with some power. Him upsetting the much older guys if given the opportunity just isn't far fetched

This generation is effectively over, Joyce, Parker, Zhang, Joshua, Whyte, Wilder, Ruiz. they're dropping like flies and getting worse and worse, Chisora is next if he fights any hungry younger guys like Ajagba, Torrez, and Vianello at this age, Pulev was still in his 40s 3 years ago. Derek looks good against his senior contemporaries.

 

Wouldn't say he's a complete nothing. He almost beat Dubois and Huni at HW in game losing efforts and has several wins over soft touches like Gassiev does. The issue with is whether or not Lerena has the motivation and will to hone out his flaws and tighten his game because he's shown a surprising amount of promise since moving up in weight. Gassiev? It's losing to Wallin and KO'ing a 44 year old Pulev in a fight he arguably wasn't even winning beforehand in 5+ years at the weight. Gassiev is the far more accomplished fighter but he hasn't shown more at HW than Lerena has.

 

You're the one having to jump through hoops here and getting into all sorts of crazy triangle theory and talking overall resumes(I'm not). I'm simply stating the simple fact that Gassiev has been disappointing at HW thus far, and that it's crazy to give him the benefit of the doubt in important fights at the weight based on beating a 44 year old Kubrat Pulev(in a fight he was heavily favored to win no less) inactivity, injuries, sub-par performances very much cast doubt on his chances against the upper echelons of the division. And yes it's unfortunate for me to say that Lerena is arguably as proven at HW(if not more) than Gassiev is. As stated in this thread and others I'm a big fan of Gassiev and would love nothing more than to be wrong but I just don't see it man.

 

You don't have to accomplish anything to potentially be better than a 44 year old version of Pulev who hasn't been ranked in years. Surely that's self evident

Oliver McCall is also far more accomplished than Lerena but I wouldn't favor him H2H as of 2025