Wladimir Klitschko scored a knockout victory against Kubrat Pulev, finishing the fight in the fifth round. It was a fitting result as Klitschko dominated the entire fight. He got off to a strong start early, scoring two knockdowns in the first round, and he scored another knockdown in the third round. He wrapped things up near the end of the fifth round, landing a left hook that once again knocked Pulev to the canvas. At that point referee Tony Weeks stepped in and ended the fight.
Wladimir Klitschko knocks out Kubrat Pulev in 5th round
Klitschko retained his titles with an emphatic knockout.
Witters Sport-USA TODAY Sports
With the win, Klitschko retains the WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight titles he was defending. Klitschko is now 63-3 and has dropped essentially all potential challengers to his throne. Unlike some other boxers, there’s not necessarily anybody out there who comes to mind a potential threat. You won’t find ducking allegations for the heavyweight king. With this dusting of Pulev he’s only asserted his dominance, though he was always a heavy favorite in this fight.
Coming into the fight, Klitschko had defended his title 22 consecutive times, and hadn’t lost a fight since 2004. Pulev couldn’t touch Klitschko’s 62-3 record coming in, but Pulev was 20-0 and had dropped four of his last five opponents. In other words, he was hyped as legitimate competition for Klitschko, which might be the reason HBO came in and got the rights for the fight in the United States, a rarity for Klitschko’s fights.
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