Pulev outpoints Chisora for European heavyweight title
Kubrat Pulev (23-1, 12 KOs) outpointed Dereck Chisora (25-6, 17 KOs) by a split decision on Saturday night at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany.
Two of the judges scores were 116-112, 118-110 for Pulev, while the third had it 115-113 for Chisora.
Pulev landed some good blows in the early rounds while Chisora connected with the occasional shot.
The Bulgarian continued to dominate the action with his jab in the following rounds but he suffered a cut over his left eye from a clash of heads.
In the 8th, Pulev trapped the Londoner in the corner and nailed him with a series of right hands but Chisora increased his output of punches in the 9th as Pulev faded, and by the 11th he was only jabbing and holding.
With the win, Pulev claimed the vacant European heavyweight title and put himself in position for a world title shot.
IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua defends his belt against American Dominic Breazeale on June 25 and the winner will face either Joseph Parker or Carlos Takam, who meet in a final eliminator on May 21. Then Pulev will be next in line to fight for the IBF title.