Talks are on for this fight to take place on June 20th. Ring Magazine have said that if it happens it will be for their vacant HW title. However would this fight be for the Linear Heavyweight Title? :think
I AM SO HAPPY! yes this is for the linear title! This is a HUGE fight for Wlad over an Undefeated WBA Champion in MAJOR unification match!!! If Wlad beats Chagaev on june 20th then beats haye on july 11th, He will move into my top 20 heavyweights of all time!!! This will be the 2nd Time and 3rd title Wlad has unified if he wins on June 20th. WBO IBF and WBA. He will basically own the division. Go Wlad! Wlad is SO Much MORE ACCOMPLISHED than his brother
At the moment you would need the winner of this bout to fight Vitali to create The Heavyweight Champion of the world, so a Wlad victory would do little to help the situation.
I don't want to spoil the party, but the fight hasn't been signed yet and i doubt Chagaev will take it on such short notice. And even after that, Wlad still has to win. Ruslan is highly skilled, although he has lost a few steps since that major knee injury. Still, i'm hoping it happens just as much as you. :happy:happy
Yes the winner of this fight would be the linear champion. Ring magazine would award their title to the winner and this would represent a stronger claim than many that have stood historicaly such as Corbett Fitzsimmons, Hart Root or even Schmeling Sharkey I. This is the fight involving the two highest ranking heavyweights that can be made for practical purpouses. Unless the Klitschko brothers agree to fight I say that the winner should be recognised as the lineal champion.
Lineage is such a poor term, Rahman and McCall as previous conquerors of the last lineage champion Lennox Lewis, would have arguable stronger claims to that title, than Wlad, Ruslan or Vitali.
No they couldnt. When the champion vacates (Lewis) the next lineal champion is always something of an improvisation. It tends to turn on a fight between two highly raked contenders and a major body accepting it. It further depends on the champion elect substantiating it. Everybody agrees that Wlad is far ahead of the field and has been for some time. Any lineage claim on his part suported by a major body (ring magazine) would probably be accepted by future historians without him proving anything else. By the same token anybody who beat him would have a prety solid claim especialy if they were the No3 contender before the fight. If this fight happens then the winner is the lineal sucessor to John L Sullivan, Jim Jeffries, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis etc etc.
Not necisarily. How many fights to establish vacant lineage have genuinely been between the No1 and No2 fighter around historicaly? Not many. If you dont like this fight then the traditional heavyweight lineage from Sullivan to Lewis needs substantial rewriting.
Lineage is a horrid word; just look at the lineage of the (British) Royal Family; *******s and politics/religion mess it all up. *******s in boxings case being that McCall and Rahman both hold wins over the retired undefeated lineage champion Lewis, and since then people who beat either of them, or beat the person who beat the person, etc, have a claim to lineage. The wording needs to be changed to THE Heavyweight Champion of the World, and to get THE Champion you would need a winner of a potential Chagaev/Wlad fight, fight Vitali...
That is merely one line, if I remember correctly he was the Duke/Lord of Chichester, but his father gave up the title and emigrated to Australia in the 50s. The Queen comes from GeorgeI, who was at best something like 70th in line, after Anne's death, but due to being the #1 Protestant, got the title. That is the point I am making; lineage is merely another title, it does not legitimize any claim, as the likes of Hart and Carnera show..... Not more important as very often the public is stupid, but getting public recognition brings legitimization. I am not writing about Rahman's 2001 claim, but I am suggesting that post Lewis retirement himself and McCall, looking at the history of linear titles around the world, had claims to the vacancy due to boxing *******ization (being previous conquerors of the retired King)...... Again agreed, but that is like I said because very often the public is stupid and wants easy answers to complex problems.
I AM SO HAPPY. a mega unfication match with UNDEFEATED true WBA champion ruslan chagaev. This does nothing but boost Wlads legacy. Chagaev is an UNDEFEATED Alphabet champion and has A class skills for a southpaw swarmer. its hard to take the 0 loss column away from a champion.
No Chagaev is not a top5 fighter, especially not now with his HEP infection, he hasnt fought a ranked contender in 2years arguably lost to Ruiz and last year scraped a close win getting thrown around by Matt Skeleton. As of now the Klit bros and Haye make up the top3, Wlady is a solid no1, Vitali solid no2 Remember most (not me) rate Vitali over Wlad