Kubrat Pulev registered a unanimous decision win over Hughie Fury on home soil at the Armeec Arena in Sofia, Bulgaria.
A promising, assertive start from the away challenger was hindered by a debilitating cut the Mancunian sustained in the second round, after a left jab from Pulev opened up a stitch on Fury’s eyelid.
From then on, the fight degenerated into a somewhat scrappy, forgettable affair where neither fighter was able to significantly hurt the other and little of note, it has to be said, was landed either way.
Nevertheless, the Bulgarian – undoubtedly buoyed by his vociferous home support – was growing in confidence at this point and was targeting Fury’s left eye, which was positively spurting crimson and would in normal circumstances have threatened to end the fight, were it not for the superlative corner work of Kerry Kayes.
As the fight progressed however, Pulev had the look of someone who was decidedly more comfortable and assured than his counterpart, who was attempting to connect with flailing right hand counters, to no avail.
A right hand appeared to briefly sting Pulev in the eighth, but Fury failed to capitalise and wily veteran Pulev continued to stalk his opponent impassively, with the full support of the crowd.
Indeed, the Bulgarian looked like the decidedly more confident and assured fighter towards the latter stages, as the tiring Fury’s accuracy and mobility inexorably diminished.
Landing the occasional jab to the body and right hand upstairs, Pulev closed out an important win to secure his place as the IBF’s number one contender.
Meanwhile, Fury, at the age of 24, has plenty of time to once again resurrect his world title aspirations and although some might argue he was blighted by a cut, he simply wasn’t proactive or accurate enough to claim any meaningful share of the rounds.
Article by: Navi Singh
Follow Navi on Twitter at: @DarkMan________