this old question again, but i wanna see what people think. i dont think beating ruslan really proves all that much, but i wouldnt mind seeing the wbc belt come together with the other two, especially if its a rematch against sam peter. saying s-1 is "just a title holder" when he holds two of the four belts and has beaten the divisions best does seem a lil dumb tho. personally i think the winner of this is THE heavyweight champ of the world.
Definitely the Ring champ, he already beat Peter, and beating a legitimate HW title holder in SI would propel here above everyone else.
first unification in many many years. we all know he is the best heavywieght but only by a slim margin. holding two titles would convince everyone that he is number 1
Sure that would confirm on paper he is the better of the current heavyweights. Though, If Peter beats Maskaev, people want to see a rematch between Wlad & Peter. Both have improved since last time they met.
I think's already the top heavyweight around. I have Sultan as about my #5. But I'd rather it was either the WBC or IBF belt he was unifying than the WBO...least amount of history to it.
Yes. He's already viewed as the man to beat, but getting two out of the 4 straps should be enough for the mainstream to consider him "the champ", if they haven't done so already. People who want to dangle the term "champion" above him usually have an ulterior motive in doing so. 2 out of the 4 belts, and the perception of being the best, has been enough for anyone else in other weight classes to be considered "champion".
He needs to unify the three titles to be champion. Beating a WBO champion just amounts to another title defence.