They will fight on the Klychko/Povetkin card and the winner will face Luis Ortiz for the vacant WBA Regualr belt. Ignoring the WBA fraud belt the Chagaev/Pudar winner vs Ortiz is another good contender fight in the division. Things have actually been happening in the HW division this year and its nice to see.
Chagaev is looking for his way to one final payday against Wladimir before retiring. At least that's what it looks like. I expect him to easy beat Pudar and then let's see what happens versus Otriz. Cuban boxers are never to be underestimated. I still favor Chagaev to battle his way to the regular WBA belt though.
The heavyweight division is coming to life. Some good fights coming up. All this while Wilder searches the graveyard or simply sits it out and gets ranked higher and higher for not fighting. It would not surprise me if Wilder were to fight Christy Martin!
Chag should walk over Pudar, but Ortiz is no easy fight for anybody. He's big, he hits hard, he's a southpaw, and he had something like 250-350 amateur fights.
Come to think of it....... Pudar would be a perfect fight for Wilder. He's old, hasnt been relevant since 2004 after his lone GOOD win over Bryant, he's got a very good beard, he's slow, but biggish, and would last a few rds with Deontay due to his tight defense and iron chin. I think if that one were scheduled 6 rds, Deontay would get his first decision win. However, if it were 8 or more, he'd likely suffer his first KO loss.
Ya Ortiz has alot of good attributes but Chagaev has a excellent chin, pretty good power, is tricky and will probably be more comfortable against a fellow lefty than Luis will so it should be a good test. People always talk about his 300 amateur fights but don't mention that he never really fought on World level and the couple times he did he lost.
What i´ve seen of Ortiz doesn´t make me believe he´s the next big thing. He´s kind of slow. Don´t know if Chagaev can get himself into top shape again. If in a similar shape as in the Povetkin fight, i would favour Chagaev.
I don't know what Chagaev has left in the tank. Yeah, he use to be a good Heavyweight. He has hepatitis though. I know this because Wlad Klitschko was notified of Chagaev testing positive, Wlad got a hepatitis shot and went ahead with the fight. Valuev refused to rematch Chagaev because he was worried about being infected.
(Far) over the hill former WBA champ, fights a guy who gets outpointed every time he steps up, and then has to fight a bumbasher next for a vacant paper belt... Sounds like a classic WBA HW eliminator/championship cycle to me :yep
