By Johnny Walker
Bulgarian bad boy Kubrat “The Cobra” Pulev (16-0, 8 KOs) battered and stopped Alexander “Sascha” Dimitrenko of Germany (32-2, 21 KOs) today in an entertaining heavyweight scrap in Erfurt, Germany, to win the EBU European heavyweight title.
Pulev, 31, got off to a slow start, as the 6”7” tall Dimitrenko used his reach advantage, working behind a hard left jab and stinging Pulev with some nice body shots to win the first two rounds.
In round three, however, Pulev finally found his range, and never really looked back. A hard right from Pulev rattled the Ukrainian-born German citizen in round four, and Pulev began loading up and throwing haymakers as his confidence grew.
A hard right hand by Pulev cut Dimitrenko close to his left eye in round six, and from that point on it seemed only a matter of time, as Dimitrenko sporadically seemed unsure if he wanted to continue.
Round eight saw Pulev stun Dimitrenko with two hard right hands, which caused the German boxer to turn his back and stop fighting momentarily. Dimitrenko’s face was now a puffy, bloody mess – but he nevertheless attempted to fight back, scoring with some nice body shots near the end of the round.
Pulev continued to strafe Dimitrenko with a variety of shots, and the now demoralized German fighter answered “I don’t think so” between the ninth and tenth rounds when asked by his trainer if he could continue.
Nevertheless, Dimitrenko gave it another try, and in the tenth, both fighters appeared to be tiring, though Pulev landed a nice left-right combo near the end of the round.
The end for Dimitrenko came in round eleven: a hard right hand from Pulev shook Dimitrenko early, and the German was truly ready to go. A nifty up-jab from Pulev caught Dimitrenko square in the face, and the exhausted, beaten German hit the canvas. He had no intention of trying to continue, and after a ten count, Kubrat Pulev became the European heavyweight champion.
Overall, this was an excellent, career-highlight performance from Pulev, who is now a force to contend with in the heavyweight division.