Kubrat Pulev vs Bogdan Dinu Preview Mar. 23rd
Veteran heavyweight Kubrat Pulev of Bulgaria will be fighting Bogdan Dinu of Bucharest, Romania at the Hangar in Costa Mesa, California this Saturday, March 23rd. The 10-round bout can be seen live in the USA on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Fans in Canada can catch it on TSN 3. Pulev last fought in October when he beat England’s Hughie Fury by a 12-round unanimous decision. Dinu’s last outing saw him stopped in the fourth round by Jarrell Miller back in November.
Pulev vs Dinu Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Bogdan Dinu +956
- Kubrat Pulev -1481
My Pick
The 37-year-old Pulev has won six straight fights since being stopped by Wladimir Klitschko in the fifth round of their meeting in November of 2014, which has been his only career loss as a pro. Pulev’s a former 2008 Olympian who enjoyed a fine amateur career and now owns a pro record of 26-1 with 13 Kos to his name. He turned pro in 2009 and has fought 186 rounds so far. Pulev isn’t a knockout artist by any means and has a current knockout ratio of 48 per cent, but almost any heavyweight can end a fight with one perfect punch.
Pulev stands stands just over 6-feet-4-inches tall and has a reach of 80 inches. Most North American fans may not know much about him, but he stopped Alexander Dimitrenko in 11 rounds in May of 2012 for the European title and then stopped Alexander Ustinov in the same round four months later. He also beat the aging Tony Thompson by a unanimous decision in 2013 and stopped Joey Abell the same year. Pulev also has wins over the likes of Samuel Peter, Michael Sprott, Dominick Guinn, Derric Rossy, Matt Skelton, Travis Walker and Zack Page.
The big Bulgarian has good boxing skills and understands the importance of distance and timing, but doesn’t really have the power to stop lesser skilled opponents and often has to go the distance. Since turning pro he’s also won the European Heavyweight Title twice as well as the IBF International Heavyweight Crown and the WBA Inter-Continental Heavyweight title. He may be underrated by many, but he is 37 years old and isn’t too well known other than in Europe.
Dinu is 32 years old and a relative unknown outside of Romania. However, he has fought half a dozen times outside of his homeland in Quebec, Canada between 2012 and 2015. Dinu has pretty good size as he stands 6-feet-5-inches tall, but unfortunately has an unlisted reach. We do know he’s about an inch taller than Pulev though. Dinu has a mark of 18-1 along with 14 Kos so it’s obvious he has a lot of power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 74 per cent. He turned pro back in 2008 and has gone just 60 rounds since then.
The knock against Dinu is that until meeting Miller he’d only faced journeymen and novices in his pro career. Still, he knocked most of them out. But he took a big step up in class against Miller and didn’t fare very well at all. Dinu looked quite promising as an amateur as he won an Under -17 world title in Romania back in 2003 as well as a bronze medal at the European Under 17 Championships. He then won a silver medal at the European Junior Championships in 2005, but was stopped in by Robert Helenius in the first round of the 2006 Senior European Championships. He was then banned from the amateurs for life for shoplifting.
Prediction…
Dinu has power, but doesn’t really have a solid enough chin or enough experience against upper-echelon boxers to be a legitimate contender. He’s never gone more than six rounds before and unless he can land a bomb on Pulev’s jaw I think he’ll eventually get worn down and either get stopped or come out on the wrong end of a decision. Pulev’s experience should be the difference.
Play: Pulev -1481 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Bogdan Dinu betting • Kubrat Pulev betting