Sofia, Bulgaria (January 12, 2024) - Kubrat Pulev is set to challenge for the WBA Regular title in Sofia. The Bulgarian two-time unified heavyweight title challenger will face Mahmoud Charr, who currently holds the secondary title via a recent court settlement with the WBA. The match is scheduled for March in Sofia, with the exact date yet to be confirmed.

Charr was in negotiations with other opponents, including a possible bout with Derek Chisora, but no deal could be reached.

Pulev knocked off some ring rust last year against Andzej Wawrzyk in California to reactivate his standing in the division.

The "regular" title is part of the World Boxing Association's (WBA) practice of having more than one title in each weight category. The real WBA heavyweight title belongs to unified champion Oleksandr Usyk, who also holds the WBO and IBF and will be facing Lineal Champion Tyson Fury on February 17th.

The first holder of the "regular" WBA title was Alexander Povetkin, who held the title from 2011 to 2013. Subsequent champions included Ruslan Chagaev, Lucas Browne, Charr, Trevor Bryan, and Daniel Dubois. Charr temporarily lost the title in 2021 due to inactivity but was reinstated as champion in 2023.

Two former "regular" titleholders, Povetkin and Dubois, were later declared mandatory contenders and had matches against the actual WBA champion. Povetkin lost to Vladimir Klitschko in 2013, while Dubois lost to Usyk last year.

In his career, the 39-year-old Charr, formerly known as Manuel, has 34 victories (20 by knockout) and 4 losses. His latest match was a technical knockout victory over Nuri Seferi in December 2022. Charr also had a world title fight in 2012, where he suffered a technical knockout loss to Vitali Klitschko in a bout for the World Boxing Council title.