Kubrat Pulev wasn’t impressed with the performance that he saw from Tyson Fury last Saturday night with his victory over Otto Wallin on ESPN+ at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. IBF heavyweight mandatory Pulev (27-1, 14 KOs) says he watched the fight live, and he feels that Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) looked like nothing special in winning a 12 round unanimous decision.
Pulev rips Tyson Fury poster off the wall
During an interview on Monday at the Top Rank gym, former heavyweight world title challenger Pulev walked over to a new poster of Fury on the wall, and ripped it off the wall and left it on the ground before leaving the gym. Before ripping the poster off the wall, Pulev remarked how much Fury resembles a “clown.”
“He goes like [Pulev then ducks down to imitate Fury’s fighting stance],’ said Pulev. “This was not nice boxing. This is a very nice picture. I see him like clown, you know? The same clown. It’s nice picture. The picture is very nice. I must say, but this is really like clown. It’s not for this gym. So many top boxers here. Mike Tyson. It’s not for this gym. It’s going to go out, and that is it,” said Pulev as he rips Fury’s poster off the wall and drops it on the floor,” said Pulev.
Fury’s poster looked kind of out of place among all the old photos on the wall of the Top Rank. Most of the pictures are real small of former great boxers. Fury’s huge poster looked a little out of place among them, as it was too huge. Pulev obviously didn’t like it, so he ripped it from the wall.
Kubrat, 39, doesn’t like the way that Fury has done a lot of talking in the past, but he’s not backed it up. He was held to a 12 round draw against WBC champion Deontay Wilder last December, and since then he’s taken on two tune-up level opponents in Tom Schwarz and Wallin. Although Fury looked good against the 6’6″ Schwarz last June in stopping him in the 2nd round, he didn’t look impressive against Wallin last Saturday.
Pulev says his management were interested in setting up a fight against Fury two years ago, but the ‘Gypsy King’ turned down the fight.
Fury was “nothing special”against Wallin says Pulev
“I watched the fight live. He was nothing special, and he was only one big mouth,” said Pulev to Helen Yee Sports about Fury’s performance against Wallin last Saturday. “He do nothing. The opponent. The guy was not so big level, yeah, and now his first big fight. Tyson Fury has a cut, but I don’t see nothing. Normally he has KO, but this fight I don’t like.
“He all the time speak, speak, speak too much. And, he don’t respect about other boxers, you know? He don’t show nothing. For me, I was surprised,” said Pulev when asked if he was surprised the fight went 12 rounds.
“Otto Wallin is a good boxer too. Tyson Fury all the time big mouth, and then nothing show. No, blood was not so much. I think it was not so good. They have referee, and this is his choice. Tyson Fury is only one big mouth, that’s it. A couple of years ago, my manager Sauerland say let’s fight with Pulev, and he says, ‘No.’ He was free, and he can fight with me, and he say, ‘No, don’t fight,’” said Pulev in remarking about how Fury rejected a fight with him.
Pulev is basically saying what everyone else is saying about how horrible Fury looked against Wallin. Fury’s trainer Ben Davison blames his poor effort on him listless while working out before the fight, and then suffering a bad cut during the match. The combination of those two things resulted in Fury being less than 100 percent against Wallin.
Pulev interested in fighting Fury in the future
“Now I’m the number one contender [with the International Boxing Federation],” said Pulev. “In my next fight, I must fight against the winner between Joshua and Ruiz. Now I’m the number #1 contender. Why would I go fight with Tyson Fury? But I don’t have a problem.
“This fight will be in the future for sure. Maybe scared. I don’t know. You must ask him,” said Pulev when asked why his fight with Fury didn’t happen two years ago. “Never,” said Pulev when asked if the Fury fight was ever offered to him. “Yeah, I’m ready. I’m here. I have respect for any fighters and all fighters.
‘We train in this gym [Top Rank gym]. This is where he prepares here. This is why I don’t come here, because he prepares here. He prepares free. He has his time. That’s why I don’t come here, but I’m ready to fight with him. Lot of things,” said Pulev when asked what areas he thinks he’s better than Fury. “I don’t see anything special or something really amazing or strong. When I wasn’t two meters seven, no one could touch me when I wasn’t so tall,” said Pulev.
Pulev is line to challenge for the IBF heavyweight title against the winner of the Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. rematch. However, it’s going to be up to the sanctioning bodies to decide which mandatory faces the winner. Oleksandr Usyk is the WBO mandatory, and his promoter Eddie Hearn says he’s the one that will be fighting the Joshua-Ruiz Jr. 2 winner.
