Kubrat Pulev is the new Heavyweight Champion of Europe. It took the Bulgarian eleven hard-fought rounds to win the vacant EBU Heavyweight Title by knocking out Alexander Dimitrenko. The 5.500 spectators at the Messehalle in Erfurt witnessed a great show by both fighters who through the whole fight kept going strong and showed superb character.

Dimitrenko started off really well in the first few rounds and set the pace. By constantly using his jab, he tried to put his mark onto the fight and was successful in his attempt to put Pulev under pressure.  Therefore the Bulgarian took it slow and was happy to throw just a few, but well-placed punches at his opponent.  Especially the left hand of Pulev caused the German a lot of problems, when he actually decided it was appropriate to make use of it.

With time passing, Pulev took more and more charge of the bout and managed to put more pressure on his opponent. Dimitrenko tried hard to use his superior reach but failed in his attempt to keep the Bulgarian at bay. "The Cobra" managed to pierce through the defense of the German with his lightning fast jabs, and soon the eyes of the Hamburg-based boxer started to swell up.

The next rounds were filled with trades of heavy punches by both men who proved how desperately the wanted the European belt. But with every round, it became more and more obvious that Dimitrenko was starting to run out of steam which was probably due to the high tempo that he put on the table at the beginning of the fight. Now it was Pulev who put his mark onto the bout and it was clear that he had a much better game plan. "My tactics were spot on," said the European Champion. "I did exactly what the coach told me to do." He kept throwing hard punches to the body and head of his opponent and in round eight he seemed very close to ending the fight early after forcing Dimitrenko into the corner with a salvage of blows to the face.

Surprisingly the Germany managed to get through the round and regain some strength during the break. This was partially due to the fact that Dimitrenko, as well as Pulev, took it a bit slower in the next rounds and both were happy with trading just a few punches every now and then. This strategy though proved to be just right for the Berlin-based fighter Pulev who in round eleven landed a devastating left blow to the head of Dimitrenko who immediately fell to the ground. He never recovered from that and after 2 minutes and 59 seconds of the eleventh round the judge ended the fight in Pulev´s favor. Obviously coach Ramin was extremely pleased with the performance of his man. "Right from the start I said that the decision would come towards the last part of the fight," said Ramin. "Kubrat managed to get past the long reach of Dimitrenko and at the end his speed made the difference."

His record now stands at 16 victories in as many fights. And after winning the European Title as an amateur back in 2008 he now can add the professional belt to his list. With such a great record it seems that it is only a question of time before he will start fighting for the world championship, which Ramin confirmed. "This is just the beginning, more titles will follow."