BoxRec

One of the fights in the works for the Top Rank on ESPN PPV undercard of the Terence Crawford-Amir Khan welterweight world title fight on April 20 is a heavyweight bout between contender Kubrat Pulev, in his first fight since signing a co-promotional deal with Top Rank, and Robert Helenius, a source with knowledge of the discussions told ESPN on Thursday.

Pulev (26-1, 13 KOs), 37, of Bulgaria, is one of the mandatory challengers for three-belt unified titlist Anthony Joshua. Helenius (28-2, 17 KOs), 35, of Sweden, has won three in a row since a decision loss to Dillian Whyte in October 2017.

Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer



Interesting match up. But if he fights Helenius, when will he fight Jennings?

Decent fight. Aging Pulev may have his hands full. Another HW fight! Let Jennings get through Rivas first.

I find pulev unwatchable.

it's a good fight to stay active, nothing more than that, 120-108 Pulev.

Onetimeonly wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 15:04 I find pulev unwatchable.

He's certainly wasn't ever exciting and his best days are behind him. He being at the bottom of the top 10 shows us the lack of depth in the division. Competitive? Yes.

I think it's a shitty fight to be honest. Helenius just hasn't been very good for a while (post hand injury) and he's older now aswell.

I'd rather see Pulev fight someone else higher up the rankings to be honest.

Nondescript wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 15:11 I think it's a shitty fight to be honest. Helenius just hasn't been very good for a while (post hand injury) and he's older now aswell.

I'd rather see Pulev fight someone else higher up the rankings to be honest.

So would I. I think Helinus vs Hughie Fury would be more interesting

oogiebe wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 15:11

Onetimeonly wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 15:04 I find pulev unwatchable.

He's certainly wasn't ever exciting and his best days are behind him. He being at the bottom of the top 10 shows us the lack of depth in the division. Competitive? Yes.

I doubt it will be competitive, but it damn sure will suck. Has he ever been in a good fight?

tiny_acres wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 15:12

Nondescript wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 15:11 I think it's a shitty fight to be honest. Helenius just hasn't been very good for a while (post hand injury) and he's older now aswell.

I'd rather see Pulev fight someone else higher up the rankings to be honest.

So would I. I think Helinus vs Hughie Fury would be more interesting

Yeah that's a more interesting match up. I'd rather see Pulev against a heavyweight prospect on the rise or something. So he wins and pushes himself further into the conversation for a big fight again or the prospect wins and signals his arrival at the top end of the division.

oh gawd please dont talk about hughie, hes even worse to watch

Onetimeonly wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 15:14

oogiebe wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 15:11

Onetimeonly wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 15:04 I find pulev unwatchable.

He's certainly wasn't ever exciting and his best days are behind him. He being at the bottom of the top 10 shows us the lack of depth in the division. Competitive? Yes.

I doubt it will be competitive, but it damn sure will suck. Has he ever been in a good fight?

Good as in enjoyable? Nope.

vs wlad was decent, but of course that was him getting ktfo

he actually went for wlad and fought aggressive and didnt just jab and grab like usual

I skipped that one.

jamamb wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 15:19 vs wlad was decent, but of course that was him getting ktfo

Vs Florian Benche but that was 2009.

Say what you want regarding this matchup, but I'm just happy we're seeing a lot of HW's mixing it up early this year. Hope it's a sign of things to come, activity wise.

It's a smart fight for both fighters. A solid win will accelerate either career and put them back into the spotlight. Happy to see this match up.

Eight years ago it was interesting. Now it’s of virtually no interest at all to be honest. Certainly not at the top of the division.

conan_the_cribber wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 16:20 It's a smart fight for both fighters. A solid win will accelerate either career and put them back into the spotlight. Happy to see this match up.

I don't really see Pulev getting a win over Helenius really accelerating his career all that much to be honest.

lillywhite14 wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 16:54 Eight years ago it was interesting. Now it’s of virtually no interest at all to be honest. Certainly not at the top of the division.

Not a good fight for Pulev, very risky. Helenius has power. He's like David Price. They're not very good, but they have ample power to stop anyone.

No reward, high risk fight. Pulev is stupid for taking this because it doesn't do much for his profile and puts him at a significant risk.

One of those fights where I'll be holding my breath throughout.

conan_the_cribber wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 16:20 It's a smart fight for both fighters. A solid win will accelerate either career and put them back into the spotlight. Happy to see this match up.

Isn't pulev mandatory to joshua? probably dosent need the spotlight, probably just needs to no loose till that's called. personaly i think its kinda risky for pulev cause although helenius is 7 or 8 years past his prime, so is pulev and its just a live opponent. I actually dont think this will happen, i think pulev will fight someone less risky.

its not that interesting to me but tbh helenius is still probably around 20, its a contender vs fringe contender

pulev if he wins has chisora, hughie, helenius (and thompson years ago).....thats not bad, get him parker and hes got a similar record to whyte

think several guys beat pulev though

gregregegg wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 18:50

conan_the_cribber wrote: ↑18 Jan 2019, 16:20 It's a smart fight for both fighters. A solid win will accelerate either career and put them back into the spotlight. Happy to see this match up.

Isn't pulev mandatory to joshua? probably dosent need the spotlight, probably just needs to no loose till that's called. personaly i think its kinda risky for pulev cause although helenius is 7 or 8 years past his prime, so is pulev and its just a live opponent. I actually dont think this will happen, i think pulev will fight someone less risky.

Being mandatory doesn't seem matter much these days. Pulev's handlers probably figure he's months away from an AJ fight (if) and needs the work. Helenius would give him rounds and provide little risk, IMHO. Helenius had his hands full with Yury Bykhautsou twice, and his win over Teper was over a soft pudgy version. Pulev should be able to outbox Helenius and maybe even stop him if/when he wears out late in the fight. Just my opinion!

Pulev decision for me. Will be awful to watch but as people have mentioned before in this thread, atleast the heavyweights look to be taking on opposition close to their level early on this year.

Interesting fight! My man Pulev is the favorite but anything can happen. But where is this listed? Not on Boxrec.