This Saturday, May 7th sees Hamburg, Germany host a heavyweight clash between Kubrat Pulev (22-1) and Dereck Chisora (25-5). It is a match-up of two men who have fought for the world title before and harbor aspirations of doing so again. The bout is for the vacant European Heavyweight title. Pulev is ranked #6 in the world by the respected Transnational Boxing Rankings (TBRB.org), and he has gone 2-0 since his November of 2014 loss to Wladimir Klitschko. He served a suspension for a positive PED test after the Klitschko fight and the pair fo fights he has logged since then are eight round fights. This fight with Chisora is basically a return to the international stage for Pulev, who would like to get back into the title picture by the end of 2016. Chisora finds himself back for one more run. With tyson Fury the heavyweight champion, two of the losses on Chisora’s record don’t look as bad. He also lost to David Haye and went the distance to Vitali Klitschko in a loss, so he has been around the block. His last loss to Fury came the same month as Pulev’s loss to Klitschko, in November of 2014. Since then, Chisora has taken some time off, but since late July of last year he has fought five times. Like Pulev, some of these were eight round fights, but Chisora added five wins to his record and shook of the ring rust for one more run. He was looking to fight the likes of Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder or Charles Martin, but none of those opportunities materialized for him. Heavyweight 12 rounds – Barclaycard Arena Dereck Chisora +320 Kubrat Pulev -390 There is no over/under listed for this fight, and Pulev is considered a comfortable favorite. Pulev is 34 and Chisora is 32, so both men have time ahead of them as heavyweights. Pulev has advantages in height and reach and he remains a sturdy, mobile heavyweight who has a wide amateur background that included an appearance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Chisora had an amateur career too, but he has had his career interupted in the past because of suspensions and legal problems that he appears to have overcome. Though the fight is not for a world title,Pulev’s standing in the heavyweight division. Pulev is a high skilled guy who is not considered a big draw in the heavyweight division, so he has to keep stringing together wins to earn title consideration.
