Kubrat Pulev

Heavyweight

In February 2002, Pulev won the Strandzha Cup, the oldest international boxing tournament in Europe, in his native Bulgaria. Pulev, who is nicknamed "The Cobra", beat Cuban world champion Odlanier Solís in the process. One month later, he lost a rematch to the Cuban at the Semifinal of the "Chemiepokal cup". He could not participate at the Euros 2002 in Perm after breaking his arm in sparring.

At the World Championships 2003, he lost again in the first round to Odlanier Solís 7:12.

At the European boxing championships 2004 in Pula he defeated world class Alexander Povernov (World Championships Bronze medalist 2005). Pulev did not qualify for the Olympics despite the fact that he won the last qualifying tournament in Gothenburg. He had to settle for the first reserve place because the heavyweight division consists of only 16 fighters participating in the Olympic Games (other weight divisions have 48–81).

Super-heavyweight

Pulev beat Islam Timurziev at super-heavyweight at the Strandja Cup 2005. At the EU Championships he lost the final 18:24 to Italian southpaw Roberto Cammarelle. At the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships he won bronze, losing for the third time to Odlanier Solís 11:25.

In 2006, at the Chemiepokal he beat Vyacheslav Glazkov and Magomed Abdusalamov. He finished at third place at the European Championships in Plovdiv. After defeating Glazkov again he was easily beaten (RSCO) by former victim and eventual winner, Islam Timurziev of Russia.

In 2007. he won the Chemiepokal tournament and was regarded as one of the favorites at the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships, but had a bad draw and lost early to southpaw Olympic bronze medalist and eventual winner Roberto Cammarelle.

In 2008, he won the Strandja Cup once again beating PanAm Champion Robert Alfonso 19:9.

He beat Jaroslavas Jakšto and Marko Tomasović to qualify for the Olympics 2008. There he was upset in his first bout by young Colombian Óscar Rivas.

In absence of Roberto Cammarelle, he beat Marko Tomasović, Roman Kapitonenko and Denis Sergeev to claim the European Championship.

At the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships he lost again to Roberto Cammarelle.

Early career

Pulev turned professional, at the age of 28, in September 2009 at the Jahnsportforum in Neubrandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. He defeated Florian Benche via 2nd-round technical knockout. Pulev fought another three times in the next three months, winning them all. He ended his first professional year with 4 wins and no losses.

Pulev vs. Dimitrenko

On 5 May 2012, Pulev won the then-vacant EBU European Heavyweight Championship via an eleventh-round knockout of Alexander Dimitrenko.

Pulev vs. Ustinov

On 29 September 2012, Pulev knocked out previously-undefeated Alexander Ustinov, who went down in the eleventh round of an International Boxing Federation (IBF) "eliminator" (match) to determine a new #1-ranked challenger for the IBF World Heavyweight Championship.

By early-June 2013, the IBF had finally updated its heavyweight division rankings, making Pulev the official #1 contender for its heavyweight title.

Pulev vs. Thompson

In August 2013, Pulev fought Tony Thompson in an additional and final title-shot eliminator in Germany, winning by unanimous decision.

On 14 December 2013, Pulev defeated American Joey Abell in the fifth round by knockdown, remaining undefeated as a professional fighter.

Pulev vs. Klitschko

On 15 November 2014, Pulev finally got his title-shot, challenging then-IBF (as well as WBA, WBO, and IBO) World Heavyweight Champion, Wladimir Klitschko at O2 World, Hamburg, Germany. Despite making a spirited effort, Pulev suffered three knockdowns en route to being knocked out in round five by a devastating Klitschko left hook. Afterwards, Pulev stated: "Wladimir is a really good opponent, but he was lucky. I want a rematch".

Following his first professional defeat, Pulev took 11 months out, before returning to the ring on 17 October 2015 against 41-year-old journeyman George Arias (56-13, 42 KOs) in an 8-round bout. The fight was scheduled to take place at the DM-Arena in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. Pulev also announced that he would be working with German legendary coach Ulli Wegner. The fight went the distance as Pulev won a unanimous decision with scores of 80-71, 80-71 and 79-73.

His next fight took place in December 2015 against American journeyman and former USBA heavyweight champion Maurice Harris, the fight last 100 seconds as Pulev knocked Harris down and out.

Pulev vs. Chisora

On 15 March 2016, it was announced that Pulev would fight fellow former European champion and world title challenger Dereck Chisora (25-5, 17 KOs), in an IBF title eliminator for the vacant European heavyweight title at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg on 7 May 2016. Despite what had seemed a fairly comfortable points win for Pulev, which saw him control the fight behind the jab, the fight ended in a split decision, with two judges scoring it 118–110 and 116–112 in Pulev's favour while the third scored it 115–113 for Chisora.

Pulev vs. Peter

Pulev fought a returning former heavyweight world champion Samuel Peter on 3 December 2016 at the Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was the first time in his professional career fighting in his home country. In front of 15,000 at the Arena Armeec, Pulev defeated Peter via a 4th round RTD to win the vacant WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title. The fight was stopped after round three when Peter was forced to retire after dislocating his right shoulder.

Pulev vs. Johnson

On 21 March 2017, Team Sauerland announced that Pulev would once again return to the Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria against another returning boxer, 37 year old former world title challenger Kevin Johnson (30-7-1, 14 KOs) of the United States. Johnson made a return to boxing, following his first knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in 2015, on March 11 in an eight-round unanimous decision win against Jamal Woods. The fight took place on April 28, 2017. The fight went 12 rounds, but inflicted with foul play. Pulev controlled all the rounds winning 120-108 and 120-108 on two judges cards and 119-109 on the third judges card. Pulev got away with rabbit punching throughout the fight. In round 8, referee Terry O’Connor warned Pulev, however he continued to do so. Johnson fought on the back foot, although he hit Pulev with some clean shots, it wasn't enough to win the rounds. The win kept Pulev in line for a future IBF world title shot, winning his fifth consecutive fight since his sole loss to Wladimir Klitschko and also retaining his WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title.

Pulev vs. Joshua

On 10 December 2016, Anthony Joshua knocked out Eric Molina in the third round and the Joshua vs. Klitschko fight was officially announced. WBA president Gilberto J. Mendoza confirmed that the winner will have to face mandatory challenger Luis Ortiz next, with deadlines due to be set after the unification fight. A day later the IBF announced the winner must fight their mandatory challenger Pulev. Because of this clashing with the WBA enforcing their mandatory, it was believed that either Joshua or Klitschko would have to vacate a title. On 7 June 2017, the IBF granted Joshua an exception for him to rematch Klitschko instead of fighting mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev. At this point, it was not said that the rematch would take place. Klitschko said he needed time to review his situation before agreeing to a rematch. It was only weeks after the fight, when Eddie Hearn filed the paperwork to the IBF to request the exception to the mandatory defense. IBF explained that the rematch must take place no later than 2 December 2017 and the winner must fight Pulev next with no exceptions.

On 3 August 2017, Klitschko announced on his website and social media channels that he was retiring from boxing. On 4 August, upon learning that Klitschko had retired, the IBF immediately ordered Joshua and Pulev to fight next, with a deal needing to be reached by 3 September 2017. The WBA then ordered Joshua to make his mandatory defence against their top ranked fighter Luis Ortiz, giving them 30 days to reach a deal. According to Hearn, the plan going forward was to fight Pulev next, following by Ortiz and then a potential unification fight against Deontay Wilder. On 22 August, details between the camps of Joshua and Pulev were being discussed and close to being finalised for the date of 28 October 2017, with Las Vegas as the potential host.

On 28 August, it was announced that Joshua and Pulev would fight at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Promoter Eddie Hearn made the official announcement on 5 September, "I'm delighted that we will be in Cardiff at the magnificent Principality Stadium for the next step of the AJ journey. Nearly 80,000 will gather on Oct. 28 to create another unforgettable night of boxing. Anthony will meet his mandatory challenger, [IBF] No. 1-ranked Kubrat Pulev, and the card will be stacked with world championship action, domestic title fights and the very best young stars in the game. Get ready for the next episode from the biggest star in world boxing." The official press conference took place on 11 September and the following day, a reported 70,000 tickets had been sold, making it the fastest selling event. It also set the record of largest boxing attendance to be expected indoors. The previous record was Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks rematch which gathered 63,000 fans at the New Orleans Superdrome in 1978.

Personal life

Pulev has turned down lucrative financial offers to represent Germany, viewing it as a matter of principle not to change his national allegiance.