Ruslan Chagaev top 5 in any decade MY ASS!!!

I won't go so far as to say that Chagaev would definitely beat the guys you mention, or that his skill level is on par with theirs. However, Chagaev's skill level is considerable (watch the first Valuev fight), and his 30 lbs. weight advantage over Tunney, Walcott, and Charles would have enabled him to hang in there with those fighters.

Chagaev is pretty fast with his hands; there should be no doubt about that. His skill level is pretty respectable as well, as he has a very good defense, tricky southpaw boxing skills, and excellent bobbing-and-weaving tactics. At a sturdy 225 lbs., Chagaev could have held his own on the inside with the likes of Patterson, Charles, Walcott, etc.

I would give Chagaev an excellent shot at beating Patterson, who was a superb but chinny fighter. I would favor Walcott and Charles over Chagaev very slightly...th outcome of these fights is uncertain. I would pick Tunney over Chagaev because of his boxing skills.

I think you are underestimated Chagaev, particularly in comparison with great small heavyweights of the past who were 30 lbs. lighter than him.

 

Chagaev didn't struggle "tremendously" against Skelton; he won this fight fairly easily. The problem is that Chagaev just didn't look very good in this bout.

As for the Ruiz fight, Ruiz is a pretty tough fighter, like it or not. Ruiz could have been a top contender in any era of history. I don't like Ruiz's style personally, but I do give the man his due as a fighter.

 

How does a guy who has one fight at this weight figure into anything? He is completely unproven at this level.

Ergo, my **** will continue to be said regardless.

 

I have to wonder if some of the guys he beat at cruiserweight provided a more credible challenge than some of the curent top 10 heavyweights.

 

Really?

I sparred with heavies a couple times when I weighed about 185. They punched a lot harder, were a lot stronger and were even less impressed with my power than guys my own weight. Granted, this is anecdotal and purely amateur-**** but I've heard similar comments made by legit pro's.

 

For the record, I am not one of the people who ever thought that Chageav would be a top contender in every single era, nor do I believe that he would have beaten men like Charles or Walcott.

I DO HOWEVER, think that he is being judged a bit unfairly and is being unduly categorized as a poor fighter.. Let's not forget that he is a relatively small man by comparison, competing in the largest era of heavyweights ever. He was also behind the eight ball going in against a man who is probably now considered as an all time great. Fighting on average every 18 months, being frequently injured, and still facing men who dwarf him in size is not exactly an ideal situation for a fighter to be walking into..

That said, I give Wladimir Klitschko full credit for his win, and remain with my original position that Chagaev is not an all time great challenger. But, let's be more objective in terms of how we judge Chagaev's defeat. I will also ad, that no matter what era he fought in, he would never be the weakest challenger that most champions faced.

 

I don't believe it. I think you are over impressed with the negative hype about how "bad" today's heavyweights are. It's become fashionable for fans to talk trash about the heavies.

 

I agree with you that Charles and Walcott were excellent fighters. I myself am very impressed with them. But I'm just not convinced that the bigger, stronger Chagaev would have been an easy fight for them.

 

I think Chagaev is finished now...I don't think we'll be seeing much quality boxing from him after yesterday's beating.

In one of your earlier posts, you stated that Haye would be aggressive with Vlad, thus forcing Vlad to come out of his shell and fight back hard. I find this view to be curious.

Why do you believe that Haye will be able to open up against Vlad? I would think that serious aggression from Haye is unlikely, given that he will be struggling with Vlad's jab.

Also, if Haye gets aggressive against Vlad, Vlad will have an easier time connecting with a brutal right cross, which would knock Haye out.

All things considered, I would expect Haye to fight conservatively, looking for opportunities to connect with fast, devastating counterpunches. What do you think about this?

 

Even David Haye said the heavyweight jab feels like the cruiser weight knockout punch. Anyone who's been in the ring with light heavies / cruiser and heavies will say the same thing in general.

Of course there is always an odd exception of a 185 pounder hitting harder than a 230 pounder, but its a rare case.

 

Exactly. It is interesting that some people here jump on one loss vs an ATG and then claim so and so was better even if they lost several times more to lesser competition.