Forget Logan Paul vs. KSI: Pulev vs. Booker Warrants a Look-See

Heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev, ranked #1 by the IBF, returns to the ring on Saturday after a hiatus of nearly eight months to oppose Detroit’s Rydell Booker in an outdoor show at the Triple-A baseball park in Fresno. We have no idea what Booker will bring to the table, but Pulev-Booker is yet the most compelling fight on the Nov. 9 docket in California, notwithstanding the doings downstate in L.A. at the Staples Center.

What we do know about Rydell Booker is that he was once considered a strong prospect. In 2001, after defeating future Olympian Devin Vargas, Booker was rated the top amateur in his weight class. He turned pro as a cruiserweight and defeated two former world cruiserweight title-holders, Uriah Grant and Arthur Williams, en route to building a 22-0 record before suffering his first loss at the hands of James Toney in a match certified by the WBC as a heavyweight title eliminator. Toney went on to meet John Ruiz for the WBA (yes, WBA) heavyweight title in his next fight.

If Booker had defeated Toney, he wasn’t going to get a title fight anyway. Back in Michigan, he had been indicted on charges of possessing cocaine with intent to deliver. The conviction brought him a sentence of 12 to 30 years. He spent 11 years and 11 months in prison. He’s now 38 years old.

Since returning in February of last year, Booker has won four of five, the wins coming against 40-something journeymen and the loss to rising contender Jermaine Franklin, currently 20-0. He also picked up some coin working as a sparring partner for Anthony Joshua prior to Joshua’s bout with Alexander Povetkin.

It was widely reported that Booker was going to get the slot opposite Oleksandr Usyk that fell to Chazz Witherspoon when Tyrone Spong was ruled out because of a PED violation. But apparently Bob Arum swooped in with a better offer.

By several measures, this fight could not be more even. Born three months apart, Kubrat Pulev (27-1, 14 KOs) and Rydell Booker (26-2, 13 KOs) have had the same number of pro fights. Physically they are almost the same and at the weigh-in both tipped the scales at 248 1/4. But there’s a reason why Pulev is a heavy favorite aside from him being the Top Rank house fighter. The Bulgarian has won eight straight since suffering his lone defeat at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko and he’s a solid technician.

Having said that, however, his last fight, against the limited Romanian Bogdan Dinu, was messy. Pulev started slowly, as is his custom, and suffered a massive cut beside his left eye in the fourth round that threatened to bring the fight to a swift conclusion. (It was the “cut of the year” until Otto Wallin left Tyson Fury with a cut that was a bit more gory.) But Pulev kept his composure, the ring physician wasn’t a spoilsport, and Pulev took Dinu out in the seventh.

That fight became infamous after the fact when Pulev planted a kiss on the lips of Jennifer “SuShe” Ravalo, a reporter for a start-up web site who was conducting a post-fight interview. After the kiss went viral, Ravalo reached out to feminist attorney Gloria Allred (it was likely the other way around) and they brought the matter to the California State Athletic Commission for the purpose of “imposing consequences” on Pulev for his transgression.

The commission suspended Pulev’s license in advance of their hearing. At their monthly meeting in July, the CSAC voted to lift the suspension provided that Pulev completed a course in sexual harassment prevention. He was also fined $2,500 and warned that he faced a permanent ban if he engaged in another “loutish” act.

Pulev vs. Booker is actually the co-feature. The main event of the 8-fight card, live-streamed on ESPN+, finds Jamel Herring (20-2, 10 KOs) making the first defense of his WBO 130-pound title against Lamont Roach (19-0-1, 7 KOs). First bell for the “Special Presentation of Top Rank on ESPN+” is set for 10 pm EST, 7 pm, PST.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams for Top Rank

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