By Jake Donovan
Wladimir Klitschko and his team have officially wrapped up training camp as the long-reigning World heavyweight champion braces for his upcoming title defense versus unbeaten Kubrat Pulev. The top two heavyweights in the world are set to square off Saturday evening at the O2 World Arena in Hamburg, Germany.
“Training camp is over. It took a lot of effort and sweat but also patience to get me to the point where I am right now,” Klitschko said in a statement through his verified social media accounts. “I am prepared, I am motivated more than ever, I am ready for Fight Week!”
It appears that not all parties involved are ready for Fight Week. Controversy has already ensued over credentials for a pre-fight press conference held Monday. Pulev’s camp were forced to hold its own press conference outside of the assigned forum after members from his management team were denied entrance.
The anticipated heavyweight clash—which airs live on HBO in the United States (Saturday, 4:45 p.m. ET)—marks the first piece of ring action since April for either fighter.
Klitschko (62-3, 52KOs) is coming off of a 5th round knockout of Australia’s Alex Leapai on Oberhausen, Germany. The bout marked his 9th successful lineal title defense, with Saturday’s fight extending his lineal championship reign to five years, four months and 26 days—good for the 7th longest reign in the history of uninterrupted heavyweight lineal title runs.
His current reign as a claimant to at least one title runs back to April 22, 2006, which is the second longest in boxing history. Joe Louis was the only heavyweight champion—lineal or otherwise—to rule the roost longer, reigning as heavyweight king through 25 successful defenses spanning 11 years, 8 months and 8 days, both of which remain divisional records.
Klitschko’s return to the title picture came with a 7th round knockout of Chris Byrd in their April ’06 rematch. His lineal championship reign—as recognized by BoxingScene.com and CyberBoxingZone.com—dates back to a 9th round stoppage of then unbeaten Ruslan Chagaev in June ’09.
Pulev (20-0, 11KOs) fights for his first heavyweight title, serving as the 7th unbeaten contender to face Klitschko over the course of his current reign.
The unbeaten Bulgarian emerged as a top contender with a pair of 11th round knockouts over Alexander Dimitrenko and Alexander Ustinov in back-to-back fights in 2012.
Getting other top heavyweights in the ring has since proven to be a problem; Tomasz Adamek and Tyson Fury both passed on final eliminators with Pulev, who sat out for 11 months before facing and beating longtime contender Tony Thompson last August.
A pair of tune-up fights have followed, his last bout coming in early April with a 3rd round knockout of sub .500 Ivica Perkovic.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
