Tonight in Bulgaria, heavyweight veterans Kubrat Pulev and Manuel Charr put on a surprisingly good, fun fight. Forget the fact that, somehow, a version of the WBA heavyweight championship was on the line. The two aging warriors gave fans a fight worth seeing.
After 12 rounds, 43-year-old Pulev emerged victorious via scores of 117-111, 117-111, and 116-112. The home hero is now 32-3(14). Charr, representing Germany, gave it his best shot, but he came up short, and 40-year-old “Diamond Boy” is now 34-5(20).
Charr, so inactive over recent years, was in good condition tonight, as was former two-time heavyweight title challenger Pulev, who was fighting before a beloved hometown audience. Pulev, too, was the beneficiary of a third man who allowed him to get away with some pretty atrocious and obvious holding.
Pulev was in great shape for his age, though, and when he wasn’t initiating clinches, Pulev was firing out sharp left jabs followed by hard rights to the head. Charr ate it all, with him showing some chin. Charr attacked the body of Pulev, this his best success of the night. Charr suffered a cut to his eye in the middle rounds, yet he also fought through this.
There were a reported 10,000 fans in attendance at tonight’s fight, the duel a big deal in Bulgaria, and it did turn out to be a fight worth watching. Okay, no one is going to call the winner Pulev, a legit world heavyweight champ, but at age 43 and after such a long career, Pulev now has the possibility of going in for one more big, big fight.
Going into tonight’s fight, fans worried it would be a mauling, slow-motion affair. Instead, to the credit of both fighters, Pulev and Charr got as busy as they could, as they both pumped out plenty of leather.
Put it this way: we’ve seen far worse, less entertaining heavyweight fights put on by much younger guys. Credit to Pulev and Charr for putting on a solid fight that was, at times, a rock ’em, sock ’em affair.
Who knows where Charr goes from here? Or Pulev, for that matter.
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