The 32 year-old started sluggishly in the first three rounds, seemingly finding it hard to work out Thompson’s southpaw stance, but ultimately took over the fight in the fourth session and was in no further danger from that point on.
Pulev was able to land the cleaner punches, and more often as Thompson faded in the latter half of the fight – which could have been down to his recent activity in defeating David Price twice in February and July.
Thompson, 41, dropped a fourth career loss as the judges read out the scorecards, with the final totals of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112 all carrying there own weight as Pulev defended his IBF International title.
A match-up with the winner of the massive clash between current four-belt king Wladimir Klitschko and WBA champion Alexander Povetkin could now await Pulev next spring, although an interim fight could be in the offing to ready the Berlin-based boxer for his impending title shot.
Also on the bill, former world champion Arthur Abraham struggled against unkown quantity Willbeforce Shihepo and was lucky to come away with a unanimous decision on his home soil.
Abraham, 33, looked laboured and disinterested at times in the fight as Shihepo took the fight to him, but ultimately came away with a 117-111, 116-113, 116-112 victory.
In a disappointing main event, Juergen Braehmer kept a grip on his EBU light-heavyweight title with a 119-108 [2], 115-111 points win over Stefano Abatangelo in a forgettable affair.
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