Kubrat Pulev stepped up his offense after suffering an ugly cut on the side of his left eye to stop Bogdan Dinu in the seventh round at The Hangar, Costa Mesa, on Saturday night.

The official time of the stoppage was at the 2:40 mark in the seventh round.

Pulev (27-1, 14 KO) was horribly cut by a huge right hand from Dinu in the fourth round.

In the first three rounds, Pulev was taking his time with his offense as he sizes up Dinu. The cut, Pulev got in the fourth round causes the alarm. If the fight will be stopped due to the cut, it will be in favor of the challenger as the cut was caused by a punch.

In the fifth round, Pulev stepped up his offense walking down Dinu with his jab, right-hand combination.

In the seventh round, Pulev scored a knockdown but eventually hit Dinu while he's down. The referee ruled the knockdown as a legitimate knockdown, but deducted a point for hitting Dinu while down on the floor.

The fight went on and Dinu was down again. He barely beat the count. He went up at the count of nine. The referee allowed the fight to continue. At the final minute of round seven, Dinu was down again and the referee had seen enough and stop the fight.

To Dinu's credit, he was more than a willing challenger. Dinu (18-2, 14 KOs) just didn't came to fight. He came in to win. His efforts just fell short.

The knockout victory and a kiss.

With the victory, Pulev still in the mix at the heavyweight division. He would probably still got a shot at heavyweight top names, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder. Note that the only loss of Pulev was with Wladimir Klitschko and that was in 2014.

After the fight, Pulev was interviewed by Las Vegas Sports Daily reporter, Jennifer Ravalo. Ravalo's last question was Pulev feels he deserves a shot at Tyson Fury. To the surprise of Ravalo, Pulev kissed her on the lips without any cue or whatsoever after he answered the question with a resounding yes. Pulev, then says thank you and walks away from the camera, leaving Ravalo in disbelief.

In a tweet, Ravalo was asked if she has something to say or add regarding the kiss. She says, "Lil embarrassing. Strange".

Bruh wtf is this interview man lmao! Pulev is alpha af. (Watch until end) pic.twitter.com/sUoiqFprhi

— NBT BOXING (@BoxingNbt) March 24, 2019

My prediction is that: The mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev would go as far as Round 10. Before the defending champion, Wladimir Kltischko knocks him out.

But man! I thought it's all over in Round 1. The crowd at the O2 World Arena, Altona, in Hamburg, Germany were roaring, as the fight seemed to end as early as Round 1.

[caption id="attachment_4528" align="alignright" width="300"] Frank Augstein[/caption]

Klitschko (63-3, 53 KO's) dropped Pulev twice in Round 1 with vicious left hooks. But the former undefeated Pulev (20-1, 11 KO's) immediately back on his feet.

He even stood on one leg to show he was fine. But then again, the 38 year old Klitschko landed another left hook that sent Pulev down again. This time, I'm thinking -- this could be it.

Pulev hurt but was able to get up and survived the rocky first round.

In the second, Klitschko started the hit-hug combination. But referee Tony Weeks' quick to separate them.

I thought that during clinches Pulev can maneuver his way to score and land significant punches.

But I'm wrong.

He contented to land rabbit punches. And to the side of Klitschko's body. It has no significant effect.

In the third, it seemed the 33 year old Pulev recovered. He was able to land some good jabs.

What I noticed is that: Pulev never had a solid defense that would at least deter the rangy left hook of Klitschko.

He don't have even the head movement to slip incoming punches. While Klitschko was precise with his punches.

Then, a big Klitschko right hand landed on Pulev. I don't understand how Pulev took that. He remained standing to his credit.

But another left hook dropped Pulev again. He still survived the round. I'm thinking this could be over in Round 4.

Well, in Round 4 Pulev was a little brave and scored some right hands. But Klitschko resorted to his holding again. I'm surprised Pulev survived another round.

The end of Pulev came in Round 5. Klitschko landed again his most effective arsenal of the night -- the left hook -- sent Pulev flat on his back.

There's no way Pulev can survive this time. Tony Weeks halted the contest 2:11 in Round 5.

With the win, Klitschko retains four heavyweight world titles including The Ring and TBRB titles. This is also his 21 straight victories, including 17 title defenses.

The reigning heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KO) and undefeated challenger Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KO) almost have identical weight. Both fighters hit the scale on Friday in Das Wiegen in Hamburg, Germany. The duo are scheduled to face each other on Saturday night at the O2 World Arena, Altona, in Hamburg for the anticipated heavyweight clash.

Klitschko weighed in at 246 lbs. and Pulev came in one pound heavier than the Ukrainian champion at 247 lbs.

[caption id="attachment_4493" align="alignright" width="300"] Photos: BOXFOTOGRAF.DE / Team Sauerland[/caption]

Both men look ready to go for battle.

On another note, although Klitschko held the IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO belts, it was reported that Pulev decided to pay only the IBF sanction fees. And if he won the fight he is not illegible to win all of them. Hence, the WBO, WBA and IBO will be vacant if he won.

Per Dan Rafael's Blog on ESPN.com

"Pulev, however, will only be competing for the IBF belt, for which he is the mandatory challenger, according to Klitschko manager Bernd Boente and the WBO."

According also to the report, Pulev is earning career-high $1,450,026 and will save substantial amount by  paying only the IBF sanction fees.

Here's my Wladimir Klitschko vs Kubrat Pulev preview and prediction. This fight will happen on Saturday night at the O2 World Arena, Altona, in Hamburg, Germany. Klitschko will defend his heavyweight crown against undefeated Kubrat Pulev of Bulgaria.

The 38 years old Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KO) of Kiev, Ukraine defended the heavyweight crown seven times since unifying four alphabet belts in 2011.

Here's a quick look at a timeline when Wladimir Klitschko collected four alphabet belts.

• 2006 - Won the IBF and IBO world heavyweight title by stopping Chris Byrd in Round 7.
• 2008 - Added the WBO world heavyweight title by a unanimous decision victory over Sultan Ibragimov.
• 2011 - Added the WBA super world heavyweight title by a unanimous decision victory over David Haye.

The 6' 6" giant from Ukraine, and the younger of the Klitschko brothers  also crowned the heavyweight champion by the Transnational Boxing Ranking Board after defeating number one contender, Alexander Povetkin in 2013.

The Klitschko brothers have been ruling the heavyweight division. The older Klitschko, Vitali, retired in December to pursue a political career and elected Mayor in Kiev.

On Saturday, Wladimir Klitschko aka Dr. Steelhammer will once again try to defend all four titles. He will defend it against 33 years old Kubrat Pulev.

Kubrat Pulev (20-0, 11 KO) of Sofia, Bulgaria is a former Olympian. And Pulev looks like has the physical match -- stands at six feet and four and half inches -- against Klitschko.

Wlad has been dominating smaller opponents maximizing his height and reach advantage. I think Pulev, although two and half inches shorter, don't have so much physical disadvantage. At 33, Pulev also is the younger man but of course has less experience and only has a total of 20 fights. Yet, Pulev has a solid amateur career that spans for 10 years from 1999 to 2009 and won the Bulgarian National Championships. Pulev then turns professional in September 2009.

My prediction

Although Pulev don't have that much of physical disadvantage against Klitschko, but I think what will bother Pulev is Klitschko's heavy jab. Klitschko possesses one of the greatest long-range jab in the Heavyweight division. Not just a jab. It’s a heavy and stinging jab.

I think in the early rounds Klitschko will establish the sting of his jabs against the more active Pulev. Tony Thompson, a southpaw, gave Pulev some trouble with his right jab to the head and body in the early rounds.

However, Pulev has a quick lead straight right hand that may go through the defense of Klitschko. But he should do it with a jab that will set his right hands; otherwise it will not be effective against an orthodox Klitschko. He might be beaten by the left jab from Klitschko if he throws the lead right.

Klitschko for sure will try to maximize the two and half height advantage against Pulev. He'll fight tall. This is because he can't do the same tactics he did against a smaller opponents like Povetkin. He's hit-hug and bully style might not be effective, Pulev has the physical size and power during the clinch and close range fighting.

However, I think Klitschko's punching power, which is being set up by his vaunted jab, will carry him towards the victory.

Wladimir Klitschko TKO 10 Kubrat Pulev