WITH numerous contenders jostling for position amid hopes that heavyweight titles become vacant, the WBA ‘Regular’ strap has become an asset of increased value. Now, a date has been revealed for Pulev-Hunter, where the title will be up for grabs.
Pulev, 32-3 (14 KOs), who has twice unsuccessfully challenged for full world honours, outpointed Mahmoud Charr on home soil back in December to claim the title and was hotly-linked to names such as Fabio Wardley and Moses Itauma as a result.
However, in April, the WBA instead ordered the Bulgarian to defend the title against former WBO cruiserweight title challenger Michael Hunter, 24-1-2 (17 KOs), who moved up to heavyweight in 2018 after his maiden career loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
Hunter has since claimed victories over Martin Bakole and Cassius Chaney, but ‘The Bounty Hunter’ has struggled for opportunities on the big stage in recent years, often forgotten about when discussing who America’s top dog in the heavyweight division may be.
Yet, Hunter will get his chance to re-announce himself to the division when he faces Pulev. The 36-year-old will be encouraged by news that promoter Don King has won the purse bid ($1,100,000) for the rights to stage the bout, with plans to host an event on Saturday, August 23, in the United States, as per King’s Instagram.
93-year-old King has previously mentioned Las Vegas, Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania as possible locations for the event and memorably staged Trevor Bryan’s fight with Daniel Dubois in Miami when the transatlantic rivals met for the same WBA ‘Regular’ title in 2022.
