Saturday, December 7th saw two interesting bouts take place that shined the spotlight on Boxing’s European scene. In the long term, each outcome could also lead to something significant for the winners in terms of the world rankings in 2025. The first of these two bouts took place in Sofia, Bulgaria where top Heavyweight contenders Manuel Charr and former two-time world title challenger and hometown favorite Kubrat Pulev met in a scheduled twelve round bout where an Interim/Regular championship designation in the WBA Heavyweight ratings was at stake.
Outside of the designation, what looked over this fight in reality was an opportunity to become a mandatory challenger in the WBA ratings, which could lead to an opportunity to face the winner of the upcoming rematch between Unified World Heavyweight championship Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, which will take place in Saudi Arabia on December 21st.
While this fight was fought in relatively close quarters as both fighters were content to stay within punching range from start to finish, it was Pulev who was able to dictate the fight. In simple terms, Pulev’s approach in this encounter had an emphasis on fundamentals. By working behind a consistent jab and frequently throwing right hands, either straight right hands, or right hooks, he was able to establish a pattern for the combat that Charr was simply unable to break.
A pattern of being put on the end of Pulev’s longer arms and being unable to get his punches off first. The success Pulev had in being able to land his right hand behind the jab eventually opened a cut over Charr’s left eye midway through the scheduled twelve round bout. Although the pattern did not change as the fight progressed, the close parameters in which the fight was fought did allow for some heated exchanges throughout. Though Charr was able to have some success periodically in landing counter hooks on Pulev, he simply could not change the ebb and flow of the combat, nor was he able to consistently use head movement to try and avoid the right hand of Pulev. It was Pulev’s fundamental approach that ultimately resulted in his winning a wide and convincing twelve round unanimous decision on the official scorecards. What may be ahead for both Pulev and Charr will be discussed at the end of this column.
The second bout that took place during this day saw the action move from Sofia, Bulgaria to London, England where British Middleweight champion Brad Pauls made the second defense of his title against former British Middleweight champion Denzel Bentley in a twelve round bout. While British championship honors were on the line in this bout as well as bragging rights in terms of the British Boxing scene, the stakes of this fight were increased as the vacant European Middleweight championship was also on the line, which could serve as a springboard to a potential shot at a world championship.
What stood out to this observer was Bentley's ability to control distance and be a sharpshooter in the first four rounds. Bentley did this by putting an emphasis on lateral movement and keeping Pauls on the end of his jab, throwing right hands to the head and body, then using his legs to avoid Pauls.
This made things difficult for the British champion, but he did begin to close the gap in round five by becoming a bit more aggressive and gradually closing the distance between himself and Bentley. Pauls did this by trying to apply pressure and push Bentley back towards the ropes and corners of the ring. Although it was a gradual process, Pauls approach allowed him to incrementally pick up his punch output and he was able to land some solid hooks and straight right hands.
The tempo appeared to be shifting slightly in the champion’s favor after eight rounds simply because he was able to adapt and change his approach. As the fight entered the tenth round, it appeared as though Pauls was potentially in the driver's seat, but just as the momentum seemed in his favor, he was forced to take a knee when Benley landed a jab that appeared to land on the eye. Pauls was able to get up, but in what appeared to be a close fight developing, the knockdown would prove to be crucial.
Following the knockdown, Bentley appeared to regain control of the contest in terms of being able to dictate the tempo as Pauls tried to reestablish what had been working for him prior to being knocked down. He was not able to, however, and Bentley was able to secure a convincing unanimous decision victory by sweeping the final three rounds of the bout. In terms of scoring, Bentley won by margins of 117-110, 116-111, and 115-112 on the three official scorecards. Bentley being able to score a 10-8 round in round ten because of the knockdown, as well as sweeping the final two rounds of the twelve round championship bout ended up sealing his victory.
For Bentley, what might come next could be a world championship fight in 2025. Not only because he won the European Middleweight championship by defeating Pauls in addition to regaining the British Middleweight championship, but more specifically because Pauls was recognized as the WBO’s number one contender heading into this bout, which now in theory puts Bentley into the number one mandatory challenger position for current unified WBO/IBF World Middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly. Whether or not Bentley gets that fight or might possibly look into a potential rematch with Pauls, which would draw much interest in the United Kingdom might come down to what the WBO and IBF decide what's next for Alimkhanuly in terms of his mandatory defense obligations.
As for the winner of the Heavyweight bout that took place on this Saturday in Europe, Kubrat Pulev might now be on a short list of potential challengers for the winner of the rematch between undefeated unified WBO/IBO/WBA/WBC world champion Oleksandr Usyk and former two-time Heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury. Obviously, we will not know the outcome of that rematch until they meet on December 21st, but in reality both Pulev and Charr, who fought for the first time in two years when he faced Pulev after a lengthy period of inactivity caused in part by legal entanglements involving the WBA, could still have room to maneuver with no shortage of contenders, former world champions, and also current IBF world champion Daniel Dubois all lurking in the Heavyweight division. The attention, however, will move to Usyk and Fury before all the above likely decide what is next for them as they look to improve their position in the crowded Heavyweight landscape.
“And That's The Boxing Truth."
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