Heavyweight boxer Bogdan Dinu (18-2-0), who lost his last fight against Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev (27-1-0) on March 23 in Costa Mesa has filed a protest with the California State Athletic Commission after he was struck in the back of the head by Pulev following a knockdown.
The 37-year-old Pulev was penalized a point by the referee because of an illegal hit in the back of Dinu’s head while the Romanian was touching the canvas with one of his knees. After that Dinu was given five minutes by the ref to recover from the punch, but as soon as the fight resumed Pulev knocked down Dinu two more times and the fight was rightfully stopped.
Dinu’s promoter, Greg Cohen said the following:
“After the fight, I sat down with Dinu and his team and we contacted the California commission and we have officially filed protest papers and requested a hearing before the California commission.”
CSAC executive director Andy Foster confirmed to ESPN that the commission is granting the request at its next meeting, which is scheduled to take place in mid-May. “The Cobra” will probably attend the meeting, because his license was suspended because the Bulgarian kissed a reporter in a post-fight interview.
