Huge step up in competition for Mike. i never thought that Ruslan was a good fighter, other than beating Sugar Nikolai he didnt do **** at HW. i pick Mike by late KO
Hard to say really. A Chagaev from 2008/09 was a solid top 10 HW in every dimension of a fighter, but it's difficult to assert how badly his skills have eroded since he's fought only one other top 50 in that time and he lost. :think
I still think he outboxes Perez pretty easily.... He didn't look THAT bad against Povetkin when they fought, and Povetkin is much better than Perez.
Perez looks terrible.. One of the sloppiest prospects I've seen in a while... I don't see how he beats chagaev.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUlJ9oHFCLs
IDK......Cuban fighters are known for their skills in racking up points, and Perez also has that equalizer in his L hand. But this fight may very well boil down to exp as Chagaev has far more A/B/C LOC. Also, has Chagaev ever fought a fellow southy? Tye Fields may not be the shining example of a SP fighter, but Perez showed how he can adapt to the SP stance, and in grand fashion I might add. TBH.......Im just happy someone is finally giving Chagaev another big fight. He's been in talks with Fury, Helenius, Boystov, Rodriguez, and about 10 or so other high profile top 100 fighters over the last yr or so and none of these fights have been made. He's 34 y/o and if he's gonna make another run, it'd better be soon. As for Perez, this fight could be career defining. He's a young 27, has about 6 solid wins, but 3 have come out of the prizefighter tournament. He is in desperate need of a shot in the arm. Is this too big a step up, too soon. IDK.....but if he beats Ruslan, it's definitely a top 5 ranking in all the alphabet bodies, and it would essentially make his #1 to the WBA kiddie title that is about to be vacated by March 2013.
It's not that big step up anymore. Chagaev survived a close one against Walker, bored the audience to death with Manswell and looked really worse against Journeyman Kreiskott. Well, he gave Povetkin a good fight and had him in serious trouble, but it was obvious, that he's not able to push the button.
How did he look sloppy? He was winning easily and didn't want to waste his energy because he still had to fight 2 times that night and was just too intelligent and experienced to do something stupid. And Chagaev couldn't finish the same Manswell in 8 rounds.....
I like Perez, he looked very destructive in prize fighter albeit against much lesser guys than Chag. But another great HW fight before the New Year! :happy