Wladimir Klitschko-Ruslan Chagaev question...

He beat Ruiz by a clear 8-4 decision, 7-5 at worst. Like Ruiz or not, he has one of the better resumes of the last decade. The Skelton fight wasn't close, either. All Skelton did for the last 5 rounds was get hit and hold.

Haye as a CW champion certainly earns a title shot, but no way should he rank ahead of Chagaev, who beat Ruiz, Valuev, Virchis, as well as fringe contenders like Sprott and Skelton. Haye hasn't beaten a top10 heavy as of yet.


Janitor made some good points.



Edit: Povetkin is still the mandatory challenger for the IBF belt. The winner of Wlad/Chagaev will be the clear linear champion and cement that status after beating Povetkin, or Povetkin takes it over of course.

 

The fact is most consider Vitali No1, if we're talking tradition shouldn't the WBC widely cosidered no1 be part of unification? There cant be undisputed/linear without him.

Plus Haye isn't as proven at HW but he's a level above him and would'd spark Chagaev in a few rounds just as Wlad will. Oh and no Skeleton didnt do much but neither did Fat Boy Ruslan, who has the athleticism of a darts player

 

These fights are not likely to happen on these dates suzie.... Where did you hear this....

Of course, it would be great if Wlad fought these men within 3 weeks of one another...

 

Chagaev is a top five fighter based on ring ability. There is no doubt about this. If anything, Haye's status is questionable, as he has not proven himself at heavyweight against a top opponent yet.

 

If Vlad fights Chagaev on June 20th, which is almost certain to happen, then the July 11th date gets scrapped. Haye will have to wait until next year to fight Vlad.

Klitschko's people are pretty angry at Haye's camp, from what I've heard. First Vlad had to scrap his scheduled March fight to accomodate Haye, now this latest news. That's not good for business.

 

Yes.....

 

This is the greatest era for heavyweights ever. Compared to the 1970's, this is a breath of fresh air...

Who would have guessed that it would have been this good? Wlad is great but, Chagaev is a good feeder gold fish. The name of the game in boxing is size. All the other stuff like skill, speed, endurance, experience, is all crap.....

 

To be the man you have to beat the man. In truth, we havent had a linear HW champion since Gene Tunney. When Jeffries fought Johnson, that was in fact for the true HW title. For there to be any linear connection involved in this, against a living able bodied contestant, the winner of Chagaev/Klitschko would have to fight Lennox Lewis, or the last man who boxed Lennox, Vitali.

 

How is this a fact? Make a poll and i guarantee that Wlad ends up getting more votes as the #1 than Vitali.

Unification, yes. But the linear title has always been between two top contenders. Moore vs Patterson. Burns vs that dude. Ellis vs Quarry. Wlad vs Chagaev is just that: a bout between the two top contenders who have rated in the top3 for several years, something not all of the above did.

"Haye is not as proven but he's a level above him" - do you realize how weird that sounds? As for him sparking Chagaev in a few rounds... Chagaev has an iron chin and has never been in trouble, let alone knocked down..... and in Haye's only fight at heavyweight, he needed 6 rounds to dispose of a mediocre chinned, fringe contender, yet he's going to stop the much more durable and way more skilled Chagaev in a few rounds, right?

 

yes this is a linear title fight in my book

they are arguably the 2 best in the world. But i would say Vitali is 2nd but we can discount him as he might not fight Wlad.

It would be better for boxing if Chageav won so then he could fight Vitali to become undisputed and clean up the Linearship behond argument. But i think Wlad will win so all we can hope for is one of the Klit brothers get beaten and the victer takes on the brother

 

Powerpuncher,

Chagaev clearly defeated Ruiz. He did not arguably lose to Ruiz. Chagaev also has wins over a durable Skelton, and Valuev. For sure Chagaev is a top 5 heavyweight today. Haye has done very little at heavyweight.

Wlad vs Chagaev is for the Ring Magazine Title.

 

Ruslin has a great chance of stealing Hayes thunder just like Douglas took Evanders 1991 shot at Tyson away from him.. I spent an awful lot of time with Chagaev in America before Universum lured him away from us.. He is more than capable of making it a very awkward fight for Wlad.. He is very god at dipping and bobbing under tall opponents jabs like he did against Valuev in that 1st fight....... In fact Ruslin has trouble with shorter opponents and enjoys a strange style advantage over tall opposition.. I only ever saw Chagaev on the floor once in all the time i was around him.. and it was a right hand from Friday that rattled him in a single sparring session in 2001...... Chagaev was the best advert for a pupil i ever came across, always 1st to the gym and last to leave . If we ever asked him to leap over tall buildings he would be lacing on his running shoes ready to give it a go......

 

Why was David Haye receiving a shot at Wlad in the first place? How did he become such a worthwhile, deserving challenger? To me, the guy is a bit of an arrogant a-hole. The Klitschko brothers should make this guy get in line behind the more deserving heavyweight title challengers.

 

If Wladimir Beats Chagaev...Not only will he have defeated an UNDEFEATED Top WBA heavyweight Champion in in a mega Unification bout....But he would also join Mike Tyson has the only heavyweight to start off holding one belt(IBF)....Then Unify 2 other belts on two SEPERATE occasions as well as capture the Ring Magazine Linear Title. I CANT ****IN WAIT. Go Wlad!!!! This is a legacy definer for Wlad right here.

 

I haven't decided for myself how I'll view Klitschko-Chagaev fight as far as the linear, and presumably legitimate, World Heavyweight Championship goes. Seems like without Vitali involved the picture is still murky.

For those that will view this fight as being for the legitimate Heavyweight Championship - do you view Vitali as a linear / legit champ before his retirement based on Ring's recognition of his bout with Sanders as a title bout?

AND - when does Larry Holmes' legitimate reign start? Ring magazine gave him their title on March 31, 1980 after previous Holmes victim Mike Weaver beat John Tate for the WBA title, their reasoning at the time being that #1 / WBC Champ Holmes had a recent victory over new #2 / WBA Champ Weaver. Or does Holmes' reign begin with his win over Ali?

In my view, if a legitimate World Heavyweight Champion retires and stays retired for more than a few months, they've forfeited their title. Thus Charles won his title after beating Walcott, not Louis (though this did cement his title), and Frazier won his title after beating Ellis, not Ali (again, this did cement his title). However, Holmes' claim, while not at all shaky, is murky as to when it actually begins, for reasons previously indicated.

Finally, I don't believe Foreman ever retired after beating Moorer and before losing to Briggs. Yes, he gave up his WB-orginizational belts, but since he was kind of active he was still World Heavyweight Champion, albeit not a very good one and certainly not the best fighter in the division. Thus the linage goes Holmes-Spinks-Tyson-Douglas-Holyfield-Bowe-Holyfield-Moorer-Briggs-Lewis. Sorry Evander, your name only shows up twice. And even Tyson's pre-Don King management said at the time that they wouldn't consider him World Champion until he beat Spinks.

As I've said before, if we're going to recognize all these damn WBA/WBC/IBF/WBO titles, we have to recognize Muhammad Ali as the first four-time heavyweight champion.