May 1st may well be the date for Mayweather v Mosley though for myself (and probably only myself) that isn’t the most important fight of the night. In fact the fight of the night for me doesn’t involve any titles, it doesn’t involve any “pound for pound” fighters, and it doesn’t even headline a card. It’s hidden down on the undercard of Marco Huck’s WBO Cruiserweight title defence against Brian Minto in Weser-Ems-Halle, Oldenburg in Germany. In fact it’s only scheduled for 8 rounds but for me, the fight between Oleg Platov (28-1-0-1 22KO) and Kubrat Pulev (7-0 5KO) is the fight. It’s one of those rare times where I, as a writer, have proverbially dug my own grave if the fight goes the wrong way and it’s maybe this that makes it all so exciting or it maybe that Pulev is getting his first test against a prime heavyweight.
So why does this fight stand out for me?
Well for the last 6 months or so I’ve been happily proclaiming Bulgarian fighter Kubrat “The Cobra” Pulev as the next coming in the heavyweight division.
This was back when he’d only had 3 fights as a professional though he was already seemingly on a fast track to the top, having beaten Gbenga Oloukun (who had beaten Lamon Brewster 3 months earlier and given Rene Dettweiler a tough time). Since then Pulev has amassed wins on an almost monthly basis, in fact since his debut in September 2009 he has fought every month except April 2010, winning every time. His toughest tests to date have been Matt Skelton, the tough British fighter who had been European champion and a WBA world title contender who was decidedly over the hill, and Danny Batchelder, a blown up middleweight who had been unlucky in fights against James Toney and Lance Whittaker in recent years. Pulev stopped both men without too many problems, though neither was expected to put up too much of a fight.
Platov on the other hand is a prime 27 year old heavyweight with a solid punch and lots to prove. In 28 fights he has only been beaten by Ludovic Mace in what was Platov’s 6th fight back in 2002, since then his record has gone unblemished except for a no contest in 2007 against Danny Williams from Britain. In that fight it seemed Williams was taking control of Platov who had made a good start until the referee stopped the fight due to a cut on Platov’s face caused by an accidental clash of heads. Many felt that the referee saved the young up and comer from a defeat in another showing of incompetence in officiating in Europe, though Platov was still a youngster his momentum seemed to end, in fact this will only be Platov’s 3rd fight since facing Williams. Though despite his inactivity, Platov holds a solid win over Henry Akinwande (a slightly dubious split decision in Germany, take that as you will) and is a considerably better step in quality than any of Pulev’s past opponents.
The feeling amongst some is that Pulev is all but ready for a European title shot, though he’s unlikely to get a fight with current champion Audley Harrison, who is currently injured and likely to face Alexander Dimitrenko upon his comeback. Instead he may just skip the title and continue up the rankings if he comes out victorious against Platov. To be honest it would seen like the Bulgarian will have Platov’s number and dispatch him inside 6 rounds after perhaps being given a hard opening round or two. If this is the case expect the Bulgarian’s stock to rise immeasurably and the hard, accurate and well skilled fighter goes from super prospect to maybe even fringe contender almost overnight.
Expect the hard punching Platov to be neutralised by the accurate heavy hands of a very well schooled Pulev, who has made the transition from amateur to professional better than most in recent times.
Why’s this an exciting bout? Because it features the best heavyweight prospect in the world today in a match that is a solid test.
