Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko KOs Bulgarian Kubret Pulev In 5th Round, Defends Heavyweight Title For 17th Straight Time
Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine continued his domination in the heavyweight division with an impressive fifth round knockout victory over previously undefeated Kubret Pulev of Bulgaria at the O2 World Arena in Hamburg, Germany on Sunday.
Klitschko defended his International Boxing Federation (IBF) World heavyweight title and has now won 21st consecutive bout since a loss way back in April 2004. Klitschko is also the World Boxing Association (WBA) Super World, World Boxing Organization (WBO) World and International Boxing Organization (IBO) World heavyweight champion.
All judges, Glenn Feldmann, Joseph Pasquale and Jerry Jakubco, had scores of 40-33 for the Ukrainian before he put the Bulgarian for good. Klitschko also dropped Pulev in rounds one and three. The impressive performance marks yet another highlight in Klitscko’s illustrious career defending the heavyweight title for the 17th time since a technical knockout win in the seventh round over Chris Byrd on April 4, 2006 when he won the IBF heavyweight crown.
"Pulev was a tough opponent, but he didn't show his real power in the first round," Klitschko said via ESPN.COM. "It was fun tonight because I proved again that I am the best. I showed that I am the champion."
Pulev was undefeated in 20 bouts before his first career loss with 11 victories coming by way of knockouts. He was ranked as the no. 1 contender before the bout but Klitschko proved early that he was in a class of his own. Klitschko has now won back-to-back bouts without going the distance after beating Australian Alex Leapai earlier in 2014. Klitschko has also won three of his last four fights via KO.
”Wladimir is a really good opponent, but he was lucky. I want a rematch. I'll win the next time," Pulev said in the same article. "There's luck in boxing. He's a good boxer but he's unsporting. There were a lot of tricks."
The 38-year-old Ukrainian nicknamed “Dr Steelhammer" improved to 63-3-0 (54 KOs) for his career while Pulev who is known as “The Cobar” dropped to 20-1-0 (11 KOs).