What exactly is your definition of "giving Wlad trouble"? Does that mean taking a few rounds to get KTFO, because I didn't see anything in that fight that suggested Wlad was doing anything unusual besides adjusting, and he did it in 4 rounds.
Although Brock was successfully reaching the body, I never felt he was about to take the fight over. "Not a Shot" Brock didn't get shutout, but the rounds he won were not very impressive or dominating. I'll agree that he didn't give Wlad much trouble...:smoke
Really ? , I thought it was because he won a ****ing WBC eliminator making him the WBC mandatory anytime in the next 10 years(when the whole Maskaev/Peter/Vitali thing is cleared up) . Brock and Byrd are the 2 highest rated challengers by the IBF(#3 and #4) should the IBF bypass them and put someone else in there who is more stylistically suited to beating Wlad . Should the IBF's aim be to find an opponent to beat Wlad ? Because to me it seems what they've done is put their 2 highest contenders , one a former WBO and IBF champ(and the last IBF champ before Wlad beat him) and another was a former mandatory contender who gave Wlad his toughest fight since Peter . The other two competitors in the competitiors are young prospects who have impressed and one of them is seen as the saviour of the heavyweight division . For Byrd to fight Wlad again he will have to have beaten Alexander Povetkin and Calvin Brock/Eddie Chambers , compared to what most mandatories have to do to get in that position , is that not deserving ? For Brock to fight Wlad he has to beat Eddie Chambers and Bryd/Povetkin, compared to what most mandatories have to do to get in that position, is that not deserving ? For Chambers to fight Wlad he has to beat Brock and Byrd/Povetkin, compared to what most mandatories have to do to get in that position, is that not deserving ? For Povetkin to fight Wlad he has to beat Byrd and Brock/Chambers, compared to what most mandatories have to do to get in that position, is that not deserving ? If they were to just put Povetkin against Chambers(and bypass fighters that are ranked ahead of them..........which the IBF have actually done anyway to put them in this tournament) it would leave either fighter without a very good learning fight against another top contender . If Povetkin or Chambers don't win this thing they weren't good enough anyway and Brock/Byrd were . Byrd matches up terribly against Wlad , but if he wins this tournament why shouldn't he be allowed to fight Wlad again ? , he would have proven himself as the best available contender even if the other contenders might have suited up better . Imo it won't be an issue , I think Povetkin will win this and the Byrd fight will be a very good learning fight for him .
Great post, bigears. You are exactly right, and made me change my stance on this. Even though Byrd and Brock were both dismantled like an old car, if they can get past these two upcoming fights, they would certianly be deserving.
When two guys that you've recently beat, haven't done anything but beat someone else you already beat, and get a victory over someone who doesn't suck that bad...should that really make that person in line for the next title shot...??? That's why it's the International Bum Federation...they should be ashamed of themselves. Their attempt at an appearance of legitimacy by calling this a "tournament," seems to be getting the best of some here. This is a farce.
I just wish someone would give oliver a chance best chin in the division never been down in sparring or his 22 year career what former champ could say that as most people know he was a sparring partner with tyson in the late 80s and if he would of beat buster in 1989 he would fought tyson in japan
So if you were to make this 'tournament' as you call it , what fighters would you have in it . The fighters can not be other belt holders or involved in eliminators/is mandatory for another belt .
To have some one who has been on mainstream television fight the titleholder. In two words: Name Recognition. In a few more words. American Heavy Weights with Name Recognition.
Toughest fight since Peter (which is what he said) - easily. Who else has even won a round on him since then? As for the original question, why belittle the IBF on this when they went out of their way to set up a tournament with fresh faces rather than having an eliminator between the top 2 contenders (Byrd and Brock)? It's GOOD that they're getting Chambers and Povetkin involved in this. They can't just bypass the top contenders, so they're going out of their way to find ways to avoid Byrd-Klit 3 or Brock-Klit 2. Besides, whoever wins this tournament will seriously deserve a mandatory shot. 3 of the 4 fighters are arguably top 10 HWs now, and if you can beat two top 10 guys, you probably deserve the shot, even if you know the guy's going to get killed. I mean, who exactly would be a better matchup for Wlad who isn't already tied up in something else? Ibragamov, Chagaev, Maskaev and Peter are all unavailable. Unless you want to see Klit fighting Valuev or Lyakhovich, there isn't really another worthy challenger around anyway.
