The hulking 30 year old Sarajevan has improved (co-headlining the Emil Markić vs. Tomáš Adámek card in Mostar) to 18-0 with seventeen knockouts. His career has been full of stops & starts, absent from the ring for nearly three years between his 2011 debut and 2014 sophomoric effort (and this layoff may excuse his one instance of being extended the distance). He then spent the next three years staying more or less reasonably active but taking on more or less dreadful opposition. For his last half a dozen outings, however, spanning 1½ years, Puki has stepped up to a level of competition that serves a vital function on the Euro circuit: they get beaten up by up-and-coming talent in the general vicinity from 175lb to heavyweight, and if they last the distance that particular talent is probably not much of a prospect with an eye toward global achievement. If they are stopped early, then just maybe, this indicates somebody with legit scary power, or at the very least serviceable combined with good finishing abilities. Puhalo's victims in this run include Özcan Cetinkaya, Hamza Wandera, Kai Kurzawa, Janne Forsman, and today adding Mate Kristof onto the list - all of them iced within a few rounds time. So he's leaping the hurdles in front of him, checking off all the right boxes, although questions will remain until he graduates beyond this class. What is beyond doubt is that he can absolutely crack. Unlike fellow raw unrefined European punchers at cruiser, however (I'm thinking in particular of Fabio Turchi here) - "Iron Puki" seems to have a bit going for him besides the concussive force of his blows, something on which to fall back in case he runs afoul somebody with a pulse that won't fall down the moment he strikes them in anger. He is, for being a big and not particularly aesthetically sculpted lug, alarmingly quick & nimble on his feet, the same jarring and disorienting sort of walking (or rather, twinkle-toeing) contradiction as, say, Tyson Fury. He uses a shoulder roll, even! I have no idea whether he will ever step up, nor how it will pan out if & when he does - but another interesting prospect is always welcome in the much-maligned but often serendipitous 200lb division.
https://www.facebook.com/Enzo-Maccarinelli-vs-Edin-Puhalo-104012871356625 Enzo's last/next opponent ?
