Britain’s very own Derek Chisora returns to the O2 Arena in London this Saturday, as he takes on Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev for the second time.
The first encounter between the pair saw Pulev come out on top, claiming the European Heavyweight title with a split decision victory in what was a close fight.
Six years on from that battle, the pair meet again; both having gone on different paths since their previous clash at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany.
Here’s everything that’s happened since, and how the two shape up coming into Saturday night’s bout.
Chasing Greatness
Known for his bullish boxing style and entertaining personality, Chisora has never been shy of a challenge. It’s this mantra that has taken him to 44 fights in his 15-year career as a professional.
In this time, the Zimbabwean-born heavyweight has racked up 32 wins against 12 losses. A lack of professionalism and work ethic led to his downfall after being tipped as the next big thing in his early days.
But since that first fight, Chisora has continued to take on the best in the division, beating Carlos Takam, Artur Szpilka and David Price along the way.
Since his resurgence in fitness and improved attitude to training, the opportunities have grown, setting up fights against Oleskandr Usyk and Joseph Parker twice in his past three bouts. Despite losing these, Chisora has given a good account for himself even at the latter stages of a modern heavyweight’s career.
A Step Above?
While Chisora has had 13 fights since their first meet, Pulev, on the other hand, has had just the seven.
Boasting a highly-impressive 29 wins and two losses in his time, the two-time world title challenger’s losses came against the dominant Wladimir Klitschko back in 2014, before being defeated by our guys AJ in 2022 – both by knockout.
Since taking on Chisora all those years ago, he’s had a wide range in calibre of his opponents, comfortably beating the likes of Samuel Peter, Kevin Johnson and Rydell Booker in that time.
His highlight win in recent years came against the hugely talented Hughie Fury. With many seeing it as an even contest, Pulev put those claims to bed with a convincing unanimous points win in his home country.
Dubbed as ‘Total Carnage’, who are you backing to add another W to their record?!
With ring walks expected at 10PM BST, make sure you’re locked into @jdsports for all the latest boxing news and gossip!
