The scheduled September 6th Heavyweight title defense between long time, dominating titleholder Wladimir Klitschko and upstart Bulgarian heavyweight Kubrat Pulev has been postponed due to an injury to the bicep sustained by Klitschko. The match is going to be re-scheduled for sometime in the November time-frame if Klitschko heals according to schedule.
At the books, the match was your typical fair for a Wladimir Klitschko title defense, as he was as high as (-750) at some of the books with the comeback on Pulev sitting at (+435).
But it is the reaction of Pulev to the cancellation that should raise interest. In a piece that appeared at boxingscene.com, Pulev went off on a long rant about ‘integrity’ in boxing, and he went on to say the following:
“So when Wladimir Klitschko says that he only stands by the rules of the BDB (German Boxing Association), I see his point is to only provide a sample after the fight – the BDB does not call for anything else. However, what does this tell you about what Wladimir Klitschko thinks about the integrity of the sport of boxing? He, who is one of the biggest self-promoted boxers in the world. He, who even signed for a commercial with the German [group] NADA as one of their faces – is still the only one of those faces not having a deal with NADA to do 24/7 testing? I think you can answer this question yourself.”
Perhaps because Klitschko is based in Germany, we don’t hear the PED allegations around the champion, or perhaps he has escaped that kind of scrutiny. It does remind one of a reported conversation between Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy and the Sauerland people about working together to perhaps bring Klitschko to the USA again, and Sauerland’s terse (yet true) response was basically ‘we don’t need you’. Klitschko can stay boxing in Germany under limited testing for the rest of his career and they will all retire with millions more in the bank than they already have, so they do not have a good incentive to venture out of their safe haven.
But Pulev’s words should be remembered by bettors should Klitschko venture into the world of 24/7 NADA testing. Will the line be just as wide for Klitschko if he is ever fully tested? That might be a big dog in the making. Unfortunately for Pulev, under the current circumstances he has a really steep challenge ahead of him come November.
