California Lifts Suspension of Bulgarian Boxer Who Kissed Reporter Without Consent

Boxer Kubrat Pulev received a unanimous decision victory on Monday. Though, it wasn’t the kind of vote that gave him a win inside the ring, instead, the Bulgarian heavyweight needed this particular vote of approval just to be allowed to get back inside the ring.

On Monday, Pulev received a 6-0 vote of approval from the California State athletic Commission to be allowed to reapply for his boxing license. Pulev, 38, had his license pulled after an incident last May in which he gave Vegas Sports Daily reporter Jennifer Ravalo an unsolicited kiss during an interview.

Watch:

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

— NBT BOXING (@BoxingNbt) March 24, 2019

For that incident, Pulev was required to pay a $2,500 fine and complete sexual harassment training. While the commission allowed Pulev to reapply for his license, they also made it clear that another such offense could result in a permanent ban from fighting in North America.

Pulev has apologized to Ravalo, and chalked the incident up to post-fight excitement after a big win. The heavyweight also claimed that he and Ravalo — who goes by the on-air name “SuShe”— were close personal friends.
However, that explanation didn’t fly with Ravalo’s high-powered attorney, Gloria Allred, who characterized the incident as one of sexual harassment.

Pulev’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, also found himself in sexual harassment training. After initially saying he didn’t think Pulev’s unsolicited kiss rose to the level of sexual harassment, Ravalo took aim at Arum.

The Vegas sports reporter said that if Arum didn’t believe “that a 6-foot-4, 250-pound boxer grabbing the face of a 5-foot-2 reporter and forcibly kissing her with his bloody mouth was sexual harassment. I would like to see if he would think differently if a large, bloody man did the same to him without his consent.”

Arum ended up attending harassment training with Pulev.

Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn