DUBAI – Bulgarian heavyweight Kubrat Pulev wants more to be done in boxing about its doping epidemic.

Speaking ahead of his WBA regular title defense against Russia’s Murat Gassiev, Pulev claimed he knows a recent opponent of his failed a test that never came to light, and had been willing to give that fighter a rematch, but that the authorities declined to allow it to happen.

“It needs to be better controlled because now, until today, we don’t have doping control for this fight,” he said of the Gassiev bout. “It’s not good. Boxing must stay sport. Boxing must be safe, not war. When we don’t have doping control, it’s not so good and it will not be sport, it will be war. It must stay a sport because it’s one of the most important things – we must have good doping control.”

The 44-year-old veteran has been boxing since he was 10. He had more than 300 fights in the amateurs and as a professional he fought the likes of Tony Thompson, Michael Sprott, Alexander Dimitrenko, Derek Chisora, Sam Peter, Hughie Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, and Anthony Joshua.

He defeated Manuel Charr for the title he is defending, in Bulgaria in 2024. But he is unable to pinpoint who the best he has faced is.

“I can’t say – it’s difficult,” Pulev said. “I’ve done so much boxing; also in the amateurs I’ve fought against Cuban boxers, so it’s difficult to say. I think every fighter can be the best; they can be amazing on one night, if they’re prepared.”

In the amateurs, he faced many notables, from Odlanier Solis and Roberto Cammarelle – multiple times each – to Sultan Ibragimov and Islam Timurziev. And he says that his passion for boxing is still strong.

“What I still want [from boxing]?” he asked. “It’s my life. It’s my everything. For so many years I’ve been doing this. I started when I was 10 years old – this is my life. I think it’s a great, great sport with a lot of history, thousands of years.”

Pulev liked the charisma, personality and style of Muhammad Ali, but he’s studied many of the greats.

“I liked other boxers, too, and sometimes I take the best things from other boxers, the things I like,” he said.

However, unlike many fighters who struggle when the call for retirement comes, Pulev thinks he will be just fine when he walks away from the sport.

“Of course – my life with boxing and without boxing, there’s not much difference,” he said. “I think now I have separate business and it will be the same, just not training and I won’t be so active. I’m not so dramatic [to become depressed without boxing]. 

“I understand it is what it is, and I understand it but what can you do? You can’t take the time back or take your life back or go back in time, so you need to appreciate it while you’re doing it.”

Pulev does appreciate it. He’s clearly enjoyed the journey and he is not ready for it to be over. His team hope big nights lie ahead, too, and they mentioned wanting a return with Joshua at Wednesday’s press conference.

Pulev made it clear he is thinking only about Gassiev and continuing his journey through the sport he loves, but one that he understands is fraught with politics.

“For example, in amateur boxing, the referee sometimes changes points, this is not good,” he said. “Otherwise, the sport is amazing; the sport is great. That’s why boxing has such a big history, because it’s good. That’s why it’s important it’s at the Olympic Games, it’s interesting and people need this.”

But Gassiev, of course, comes first.

“He’s very good,” he said. “He was a champion. You can never say, style with style if someone is better than someone else. The fight is the fight.”