Klitschko v Pulev

Injury delays Klitschko title defence

ESPN staff

August 25, 2014

Wladimir Klitschko was due to fight on September 6 at the O2 World Arena in Hamburg © Getty Images

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Wladimir Klitschko's world heavyweight championship fight with Kubrat Pulev has been postponed after the Ukrainian injured himself in training.

The fight, originally scheduled for Saturday, September 6 at the O2 World Arena Hamburg, was called off after Klitschko injured a hamstring in a training camp in Austria, according to his promoter Tom Loeffler.

Unfortunately, news is true that Wladimir @Klitschko injured himself in camp and Sept 6 fight vs Pulev needs to be postponed
— Tom Loeffler (@TomLoeffler1) August 25, 2014

Klitschko was due to make the mandatory defence of his WBA, IBF and IBO titles against the 33-year-old Bulgarian Pulev, but the bout is now likely to be postponed for two months, with German magazine Bild suggesting late October as a likely date.

Pulev, who has won all 20 of his professional fights, earned his mandatory challenger status in August 2013 with a unanimous decision against American Tony Thompson, who had twice been knocked out by Klitschko in mandatory title fights.

Since becoming the mandatory challenger, Pulev, known as "The Cobra," has fought twice, scoring a fourth-round knockout of Joey Abell, who knocked him down, in December followed by a third-round knockout of Ivica Perkovic on April 5.