Kubrat Pulev has broken his silence following the controversy caused after he kissed a reporter on the lips in a post-fight interview.
The Bulgarian has received fierce critcism for grabbing reporter Jenny SuShe and kissing her after they had discussed his knockout victory over Bogdan Dinu in Los Angeles on Saturday.
And Pulev, who was a former opponent for Anthony Joshua before pulling out injured, refused to apologise, claiming SuShe is his friend and that they laughed about the incident.
“You may have seen a clip of me kissing a female reporter following an interview after I won my fight Saturday night,” Pulev said.
“The reporter, Jenny, is actually a friend of mine, and after the interview, I was so elated, I gave her a kiss.
“Later that night, she joined me and my other friends at my post-fight celebration. On the video, after our kiss, we both laughed about it and thanked each other. There really is nothing more to this.”
The 37-year-old’s impressive knockout win against the Romanian keeps him in line to challenge for a world title again, perhaps against Joshua, due to his No 1 ranking with the IBF.
Pulev did the post-fight interview with blood dripping from his face after a cut inflicted by a punch from Dinu.
Pulev was asked by SuShe, who was covering the fight for Vegas Sports Daily, whether he deserved a shot at Tyson Fury, who is also promoted by Top Rank in the United States.
He replied, “yes,” before grabbing SuShe on her face and planting a kiss on her lips.
SuShe, who posted a picture of herself with Pulev after the fight on Instagram, told news.com.au that the incident was “(a little) embarrassing” and “strange.”
Pulev was only ahead on one card heading into the seventh round, with the other two judges having the fight a draw.
But three knockdowns, including a point deduction for Pulev after hitting his opponent while he was down, eventually saw Dinu dispatched.
It is Pulev’s seventh successive win since being knocked out by Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.
