He'd do pretty well. I could see him beating Foreman, McCall, Bruno, Ruddock, Tua, Mercer, and having a lot close fights with other good fighters from that era. I can't see anyone embarrassing him except maybe late 90s Lewis and Tyson if he catches him early.
Depends on what part of the decade you drop him off in.. The period ranging from 1990-1995 was very different than that of 1996-2000. In the latter half you had guys like john Ruiz, Bruce Seldon, Frans Botha, etc. holding titles. Most of the greats from the earlier period were past it by that point save for Lennox Lewis. For chagaev to make the top 10 and even capture a title fragment wouldn't be unrealistic. But in the shark infested waters of the early to mid 90's he'd be about the equivalent of a Francesco Damiani type.
What does he have in common with Damiani beyond being white? I don't understand that comparison. And Damiani was an 80s guy who was mostly limited by not getting fights with the best.
stylistic they have nothing in common. But in terms of level around 1990-91 I can see them being similarly ranked which in an honest system would be lower part of the top 10. I don't see Chagaev breaking that upper barrier given that he'd have to go through guys like Tyson, Holyfield, Ruddock, Foreman, Moorer, Witherspoon, Bowe or Lewis to be among that group.
Damiani was basically past it in the 90s and his only loss while prime was due to shattering his nose against Mercer. He never really got the chances. I'm pretty sure Chagaev would beat Ruddock and Foreman. He's well schooled and really tough. They were vulnerable to that type. He might beat Moorer and Spoon too and could at least give Holy and Bowe tough fights. I think he'd do okay if focused.
The Mercer fight WAS during the 90's I'm not even sure how clearly he beat a past prime Ruiz.. But if you want to give him a shot against Moorer, Spoon, Ruddock Foreman, Bowe and Holy then go with it.
He was much better against Mercer and earlier than he was against Page and MCCall. That's the reference. Foreman and Ruddock basically beat nobody as good Chagaev on the 90s aside from Foreman's down on the cards win over Moorer. spoon beat nobody I can remember who was as good Chagaev in the 90s. Moorer beat Holy on an off night and nobody else who was better or on Chagaev's level. Bowe beat one guy who was better. So why is it unreasonable to think he'd be tier 2 in the 90s?
About how I see it. He could also catch an arrogant Lewis and knock him out like McCall and Rhaman did. And speaking of those two, I think Chagaev would defeat both of them on points. Chagaev would not beat Lewis, Bowe, or Holyfield at their best, but Bowe's prime was a short one, Holyfield had lots of uneven performances and Lewis with his chin and ego could have been had. So he could have been champion with the right timing and opportunity.
You said his prime was in the 80's then said he was prime when he fought Mercer. Its quoted above. You say Foreman never beat anyone as good as Ruslan then proceed to side step his win over Moorer who WAS better than chagaev.. Ruddock took Tyson the distance and dropped an aging yet still serviceable Dokes with one punch. Chagaev struggled to barely win deicsions over an old Ruiz and Valuev - two fights that aren't even decisive. He beat Carl Williams, jose Ribalta, Jorge Gonzalez, Alfred Cole and was arguably robbed against Mercer. That's a comparable if not better list than what Chagaev compiled in his whole career. He also beat Frans Botha, Axel shultz, Bert Cooper, and Alex Stewart. And was also far more active than Ruslan. That "one guy" happens to be an ATG in his prime. I'm also not so sure that Chagaev's wins over old Ruiz, Virchis, Valuev, etc are any better than Bowe's wins over Tubbs, Gonzalez, Hide, or Coetzer. I've already said he'd make top 10 which I think is fair. But to place him in the top five while the division was occupied by Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis, Foreman, Ruddock and Moorer is something I remain skeptical over.
Tier 2 quality. Not A plus grade, but plenty capable of springing an upset on one if they had an off night. I'd probably favor him over Moorer, Rahman, Mercer, Morrison, and old Foreman. Tua - Chagaev would've been a highly entertaining s****.
