By Alexey Sukachev
A replacement has been found for the “people’s champion” and former Belfast cab driver Martin Rogan (14-2, 7 KOs), who recently withdrew from a proposed fight versus highly regarded Bulgarian heavyweight sensation Kubrat Pulev (12-0, 6 KOs).
The fight was originally scheduled to take place either in late July or in August, and a vacant European title was said to be at risk. Then the contest was moved to July 16 on the Marco Huck vs. Garay undercard. However, Rogan claimed that he didn’t have enough time to prepare for such an important collision and promised that he would be ready to battle the rapidly rising Bulgarian in the future if he has a sufficient period of time to end his training camp properly.
Instead of Rogan, Pulev will take on durable Ukrainian tough guy Maxim Pedyura (13-2-1, 11 KOs) in a scheduled non-title eight-rounder on the same date, July 16. Pedyura's last official fight took place more than two years ago against Croatian prospect Mario Preskar, and ended in an eight-round draw. He took part in February's Better's Bigger Boxing Promotions in Sofia, Bulgaria, but the results are not listed on his official record.
