Rahman was a mandatory because Povetkin pulls out! Wladimir did not choose Rahman, he was scheduled to fight Povetkin and than he pulls out, so Rahman was the highest available contender from the IBF.
He chose Brewster the 2nd time. Brewster was 15 months inactive at the time coming off a loss and just got done having surgery on his eye back in July of 07.
haye reminds me alot of james toney. both moved up in the division with a loud mouth and never fought the top dogs. both all talk
I was disapointed when I first read it but then I thought about it. WHo is he going to fight. Tried to fight Valuev. Not going to fight Wlad. Haye has 2 fights lined up. Is he going to fight another American bum? Might as well make some cash and fight the European champ.
Vitali vs. Peter after a 4 year retirement with no tuneup was very impressive & it was a mega fight. They had holograms of some of the best former champions! :deal
I agree with this. The choice of opponent is no great name but who's available? Fans should keep in mind that Vitali has fought like 4 times in a year too...............how many Heavyweight Champions do that?
Toney will be getting his ass kicked MMA style soon enough, don't you worry. I can't imagine how easily Big Nog or Mir would submit him let alone Fedor. Brock Lesnar would slam his fat ass & ground & pound his head like he's never felt before. These guys wear tiny gloves and they're allowed to hold & hit.
I think these opponents were more credible than a combined record of all others contenders during that period.
apologies for not reading every post in the thread but what the ****?! they fight bums? no they fight the best available. sometimes the best available aren't that great. but they are not ****ing bums, they are fighterss. most of these individuals are top tier heavyweights. top tier in a shitty era sure but what the **** are the klits supposed to do? hop in a delorean, crank it to 88 and go back to the ****ing 70s? **** off with this ****...
I forgot about that but you're right. In fact Wladimir had to fight Rahman to clear his mandatory so then he could fight Haye as a voluntary if I'm not mistaken.
Turns down James Toney, just to go on and fight an unkown, uncharismatic, unmarketable Polish fighter with a completely unimpressive record...what else is there to say?atsch