Bulgarian boxer Kubrat Pulev- the legend continues

published on 9/12/13 8:16 AM

The boxer with Minister of Sports and Youth Mariana Georgieva

Photo: BGNES

The Bulgarian people were used to the sport achievements of Bulgarian athletes in the nearest past in disciplines such as weightlifting, rhythmic gymnastics and athletics. Currently the situation looks quite different and the performance of the Bulgarian athletes at the big sport forums is far from the one in the past and the expectations of the Bulgarian audience. The hopes for future successes are linked with athletes such as Grigor Dimitrov, Ivet Lalova and Kubrat Pulev.

Kubrat was born on May 4, 1981 in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. He started to practice boxing at the age of 11. When he first steeped in the sports hall he dreamed that one day he would have the chance to contest one of the most-prestigious titles in this sport. His perseverance and steadfastness are behind his great success. In 2002 the young Bulgarian won the title at the most-prestigious Bulgarian boxing tournament-Strandzha, followed by a bronze medal at the World Boxing Championship in China in 2005 and another bronze at the European Boxing Championship in Plovdiv in 2006. In 2008 he won the title at the World Amateur Boxing Championship in the 91 kilogram category. He took the decision to become a professional boxer at an advanced sports age of 28. He signed a contract with a German boxing club, but continued to fight under the Bulgarian national flag.

Soon after that the success came naturally. His uncompromising boxing style brought him 13 consecutive victories at the professional ring. On October 22, 2011, Kubrat who is also known with his nickname Cobra faced the US boxer Travis Walker in a match for the Intercontinental Heavyweight Title of the International Boxing Federation (IBF). This victory placed Pulev in the focus of attention of many western media. The international boxing community started to pay huge respect towards Pulev. On September 29, 2012, Pulev won by a knockout against the Ukrainian super star Alexander Ustinov who was previously undefeated in 27 consecutive matches. The success helped Pulev defend his intercontinental title and the title of the European Boxing Union and placed Kubrat among the main contenders for a match against the World’s No 1 Professional Boxer Wladimir Klitschko. The Ukrainian boxer tried to avoid a match against Pulev several times. On August 24, 2013, Kubrat Pulev faced the strongest rival in his professional boxing career- the US boxer Tony Thompson who was defeated by points.

Here is what the Bulgarian athlete said when he returned to Bulgaria after the memorable fight which secured him a match against the winner of the upcoming match between Wladimir Klitschko and Aleksandr Povetkin.

“I think that I was following closely my boxing style and my plan and was controlling the match during the whole time as I did not let Thomson play his game. He is very good at a close distance. This is what we discussed with my brother before even realizing what we have actually done. Now when we look at the world rankings we see Wladimir Klitschko at the top, followed by his brother Vitali and me in the third position. All other names of great boxing champions are behind me in the world rankings. Tenancy, huge efforts and faith are what someone needs in order to become a champion. The success is hidden behind lots of work, practice and a great deal of luck”, contends Pulev.

Kubrat Pulev has a brother and three sisters. Boxing is a tradition in his big family. His younger brother Tervel Pulev won a bronze medal at the London 2012 Summer Olympics and his father Venko Pulev, who was once famous with his huge book collection consisting of over 10,000 books, was a national heavyweight boxing champion in the mid 20th century.

When speaking of a possible match against Wladimir Klitschko in May or June 2014, Pulev confesses that this will be the match of his life. He says that he has good chances to win in this match, but also acknowledges the exceptional boxing qualities of his renowned Ukrainian rival.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov

По публикацията работи: Tsvetan Nikolov

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