After negotiations broke down, the WBA has scheduled a purse bid for the fight between WBA champ Kubrat Pulev and Michael Hunter for May 27.
The planned heavyweight title fight between WBA(regular) world champion Kubrat Pulev (32-3, 14 knockouts) and Michael Hunter (24-1-2, 17 knockouts) will be auctioned off. After both camps were unable to reach an agreement, the WBA ordered a purse bid for May 27. The purse bid will be led by WBA Vice President Julio Thyme, with the purse to be split 75:25 in favor of Pulev.
Hunter is unbeaten since his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in 2017 and has wins over Martin Bakole and Sergey Kuzmin. Pulev, who defeated Mahmoud Charr in December, is one of the oldest active world champions in boxing at the age of 44. The Bulgarian must now make his first title defense against the agile American.
The fact that there is now a purse bid is also due to the release of Fabio Wardley. He was supposed to fight Jarrell Miller on June 7, but was injured. The way is now clear for Hunter, and the technically strong boxer could benefit from the circumstances. A date for the fight will be set after the purse bid.
Text by Robin Josten