Kubrat Pulev: record, next fight and profile →
SOFIA, BULGARIA – Kubrat Pulev commented today on this morning’s press conference in London where Dillian Whyte and his promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, announced that instead of fighting him, Whyte would be facing recently dethroned WBO Champion Joseph Parker.
Dillian Whyte will meet Joseph Parker in a crunch Heavyweight clash at The O2 in London on July 28, live on Sky Sports Box Office. Whyte is on the cusp of World title action destroyed Lucas Browne with a devastating sixth round KO of the Australian in London in March to defend the WBC Silver title and number one ranking he’d landed by beating Robert Helenius in Cardiff in October.
Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom is not ruling out the idea of a WBC eliminator between heavyweights Dillian Whyte and Luis Ortiz. BoxingScene.com recently reported that Epic Sports and Entertainment won an IBF mandated purse bid, to stage a final eliminator between Whyte and Kubrat Pulev. The unexpected promotional player was able to outbid Hearn (representing Whyte) and Team Sauerland (repping Pulev).
After losing out on the purse bid for the IBF heavyweight title eliminator between Kubrat Pulev and Dillian Whyte, the Brit's promoter Eddie Hearn is waiting to hear the plans from the left-field winner Epic Sports & Entertainment. Epic, who promote neither fighter, won with a bid of $1,500,111 to comfortably beat Matchroom ($831,111), who promote Whyte, and Sauerland ($801,305), who promote Pulev.
Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev is “95 percent sure” that his fight against Briton Dillian Whyte, which will decide the challenger for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) world heavyweight title held by Anthony Joshua, will take place in Sofia.
With a bid of just over $1.5 million Epic Sports and Entertainment seemingly came out of nowhere to win the IBF purse bid for the heavyweight elimination match between Kubrat Pulev and Dillian Whyte, far surpassing the bids of Matchroom Sports and Team Sauerland.
A surprise bidder beat out the promoters of Dillian Whyte and Kubrat Pulev on Thursday to earn the right to promote their IBF-mandated heavyweight elimination match. Epic Sports & Entertainment, a New York-based company that’s new to the boxing business, submitted the winning offer of $1,500,111 during a purse bid at the IBF’s headquarters in Springfield, New Jersey. The company, with which longtime boxing attorney John Wirt is involved, easily surpassed the offers submitted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing (Whyte) and Team Sauerland (Pulev).
British heavyweight Dillian Whyte is now applying pressure on Kubrat Pulev to reach an agreement for a proposed IBF final eliminator. The purse bid is scheduled to take place on Thursday, with Whyte set to return on July 28 at the O2 Arena in London. The winner would become the mandatory challenger to IBF, WBA, WBO, IBO world champion Anthony Joshua.
Kubrat Pulev’s promoters hope to reach a deal soon with Eddie Hearn for a fight against Dillian Whyte this summer. An IBF purse bid that had been scheduled for Thursday was postponed for one week to give them more time to work out a deal. Nisse Sauerland, one of Pulev’s promoters, told Sky Sports on Friday that July 28 has been discussed as a potential date for Whyte-Pulev and that London and somewhere in Pulev’s native Bulgaria are possible sites.
Heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev (25-1, 13 KOs) has denied reports that he's scheduled to face British contender Dillian Whyte (21-1, 17 KOs) on a date of July 21. Pulev has been out of the ring since last April, when he won a twelve round decision over Kevin Johnson.