German WBA “regular’ heavyweight champion Mahmoud Charr, who is more known over the past few years for gaining the WBA title despite his inactivity than actually fighting, will finally be competing in a professional bout against Bulgarian veteran Kubrat Pulev. The two fighters had been expected to compete in March, but following an injury that Charr inccurred prior, their bout was subsequently postponed with December 7 now picked as a date for their title fight. Their match will be held in Pulev’s home country of Bulgaria in the city of Sofia.
Mahmoud Charr (34-3, 20 KO’s) has notoriously been inactive over the past two years, attributed to a varying set of circumstances that eventually resulted in the WBA appointing him as the WBA “regular” heavyweight champion after he challenged the sanctioning body in court.
However, the possibility of Charr retaining his WBA heavyweight (200+ lbs) title now appears slim as he will not only be coming off inactivity and an injury, but further be facing a tough and experienced challenger in Kubrat Pulev (31-3, 14 KO’s) who, like Charr, has had several opportunities to become a heavyweight world champion prior but never quite managed to reach the finish line.
Working in Charr’s favor may be the fact that he, in comparison to Pulev, appears to be in better form on paper―with Charr currently being on a six-fight win streak, but with the German heavyweight having notably competed last in 2022, and prior to that having remained out of the ring for roughly four years from 2017-2021, the scales seem to be heavily in favor of a Pulev hometown victory.
The last opponent Manuel Charr faced was Albanian heavyweight Nuri Seferi whom he faced in December of 2022.
Pulev has been more active, last fighting and winning in March―on the date he was poised to face Charr―by unanimous decision. while he further found once in 2023 and twice in 2022. Pulev is currently on a two-fight win streak, with his last loss occurring through a split-decision (SD) to renowned British and still-active heavyweight veteran Derek Chisora (35-13, 23 KO’s).
The WBA “super” title is currently held by Ukrainian former undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KO’s).
