By John Hively

Hopefully, the clash between Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov on February 23 will be the beginning of a series of unification fights to determine the real heavyweight champion. Today’s heavyweights are deep and talented, but Klitschko is the division’s hottest fighter and the likely favorite to win such a series.

Wlad hasn’t lost a fight in nearly four years, and during that time he’s been tearing up his fellow contenders, winning nearly every round of all of his bouts. He has significantly improved during this period under the guidance of Emmanuel Steward. For example, Wald uses his feet more to avoid punches than the early flat-footed version of Klitschko. Nowadays, he glides to his left and to his right while using his jackhammer of a jab to keep foes away from his average, Lennox Lewis-like chin. He has a sleep inducing left hook and a cannon of a right cross, and both fists deliver savage barrages of punches with remarkable speed for a heavyweight. A stamina-deficit accounted for two of his three defeats years ago, but Wladimir paces himself much better now than in the old days.

On paper, Sultan Ibragimov doesn’t shape up to be much of a threat to Klitschko. Most recently, Sultan has gone the distance in beating stamina challenged Shannon Briggs and ancient Evander Holyfield. It’s likely neither of those guys would have lasted six rounds against Wlad, or even won a round. On top of that, Ray Austin fought Ibragimov to a legitimate standstill a year and a half ago. No disputing the result. Then Klitschko pulverized Austin in less than two rounds a few months later. That result doesn’t bode well for Sultan. Moreover, he is smaller and less experienced than Wlad.

So what chance does he have against the Klitschko express?

Ibragimov may have a really good shot at beating his Ukrainian opponent if only because styles make fights, and Sultan has the style and physical equipment to give Wlad plenty of trouble. Ibragimov’s two swift hands are enhanced by his rocket propelled feet. He’s faster of foot than Chris Byrd, and he uses the ring more, as well. He has plenty of pop in both of his gloves. Although he has yet to stop a top-flight contender, Sultan has stopped reasonably good opponents in Lance Whitaker, Zuri Lawrence, Al Cole and Friday Ahunanya. Of course, there’s a world of difference between the qualities of those guys and Wladimir Klitschko.

Klitschko should be able to use his jab to control the fight, but Ibragimov’s feet will give him opportunities to avoid that dreaded weapon. His quick feet give him the ability to quickly move into punching range and hammer away at Wladimir’s chin now and then, perhaps more so than anybody since Corrie Sanders, who also had fast hands and feet. That being said, I expect Wladimir to stop Sultan in a seesaw fight, probably around round seven.

The rest of the division shapes up as being very strong and deep. Ruslan Chagaev is my number two contender. He has the mental and physical skills to give Wlad a run for his money. Ruslan faces hard punching Matt Skelton on January 19th. It should be a good fight and the bout should determine whether Skelton is a real contender or just another Danny Williams. Williams is a trial horse and Matt only managed to split their two bouts. It’s difficult to envision Skelton winning against Chagaev, but you never can tell. Jameel McCline deposited Samuel Peter on the canvas thrice, and although he lost the decision, the three knockdowns were unexpected.

Samuel Peter lost every second of every round to Klitschko when they fought more than two years ago, except for the three times Peter deposited Wlad on his rear. Samuel has improved significantly since then, but Wlad has improved even more. Peter’s punching power will always make him a threat to Wlad, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if Klitschko stops him if they meet again. I’m also not so certain Peter could get by Chagaev or the much quicker Ibragimov.

Newcomers Eddie Chambers, Alexander Povetkin and Tony Thompson also have the skills to get by the big Nigerian. Peter’s next opponent is the not so quick, not so durable Oleg Maskaev. But Oleg is a veteran campaigner, a tricky fighter with a lot of subtle skills and a big punch. If McCline can deposit Peter on his rear end, then so too can Oleg. Peter, however, should rate as the favorite when they meet on March 8.

One of the more interesting fights coming up is Alexander Povetkin against Chambers on January 26. Both scored notable victories in their previous battles; Povetkin stopped Chris Byrd, while Chambers slipped past Calvin Brock. Both may have the potential to make it all the way to the top of the division; but both face serious size disadvantages against Klitschko. Povetkin should be able to slip by Chambers, but don’t count Eddie out. He has the skills and speed to win that fight.

 

Giant Nikolai Valuev is heading into a bout with the inactive Sergei Liakovich in February. It should be a good fight - for Valuev. Liakovich has been inactive since suffering a stunning knockout loss to Shannon Briggs in November 2006. Sergei is an in-and-outer; when he’s in, he looks impressive, such as when he defeated Lamon Brewster. Then he looked terrible in his fight against Shannon Briggs. Valuev is a good fighter, but hardly great. He’s robotic, but he does have a nice jab and fair punching power. His primary strength is the 325-pounds spread out over his seven-foot frame.

Shannon Briggs, Tony Thompson and Vladimir Virchis are the odd men out in the division. Briggs has nothing scheduled and in his last fight he lost a desultory decision to Ibragimov. Thompson and Virchis are aging prospects. Both have defeated good fighters lately, both are ready for major contenders, and both are biding their time, but they really don’t have time to sit around and do nothing or engage in meaningless fights since Virchis is thirty-four years old and Thompson is thirty-six. They need to make their moves sooner than later. Yet they appear frozen out of the big picture.

Veteran’s Calvin Brock, Hasim Rahman, John Ruiz, Jameel McCline, Chris Byrd, Joe Mesi and Lamon Brewster are ready to make moves to return to the top ten listings. There are also several prospects who might break into the top ten soon: Alexander Dimentrinko, Chris Arreola and Mike Mollo are three of the better picks.

The state of the heavyweight division is stronger than most experts think. There is a lot of depth, although an all time great has yet to be noticed. But when Cassius Clay came along, many experts denied he was a great fighter for years afterwards; doesn’t hit hard enough, they said, can’t take it to the body, and other such drivel that proved to be incorrect over time.

My current top fifteen:

1. Wladimir Klitschko

2. Ruslan Chagaev

3. Samuel Peter

4. Sultan Ibragimov

5. Oleg Maskaev

6. Nikolai Valuev

7. Alexander Povetkin

8. Eddie Chambers

9. Shannon Briggs

10. Calvin Brock

11. Tony Thompson

12. Vladimir Virchis

13. Hasim Rahman

14. John Ruiz

15. Jameel McCline

These guys compare favorably with a lot of other eras. For example, looking at the Ring Magazine ratings from December 24th 1984, it’s difficult to imagine that those guys were better as a group than the current crop of contenders. Larry Holmes was a fading heavyweight champion who lost to light heavyweight Michael Spinks nine months later. It’s difficult to believe Klitschko would lose to someone so small. Of course, a great fighter like Holmes wouldn’t have lost to Spinks a year or two earlier. David Bey was the number three contender at the time. His only important win was over a fading Greg Page. He never defeated another contender and lost several times by KO. Page was the #2 contender. Gerrie Coetzee was #5, Mike Weaver #6, Michael Dokes #7 and Gerry Cooney #10. They were all on the downward side of their careers.

Cooney had not won an important match in three years, back when he stopped the much faded Ken Norton in the first round. Number eight ranked James Broad never defeated an important fighter in his entire career. Pinklon Thomas #1, Tim Witherspoon #4 and James Smith #9 were rising fighters, at or near their primes. In December 1984, it was obviously a division in decline, and one which didn’t have the depth of today’s heavyweights.

Mike Weaver of 1984? Gerrie Cooney? James Broad? Gerrie Coetzee? Those guys were all good fighters, but in 1984 they were fading, and they would never have entered today’s top ten based on their achievements in 1984. They were in the top ten because the division lacked the depth of today’s heavyweights.

So enjoy today’s heavyweights. It’s a strong division, and getting stronger. Most of today’s top heavyweights are still improving, and there are several young guns developing, ready to join in the mix, ready to engage titlists, ready to displace someone in the top ten. An all time great is probably developing right in front of our eyes. More than likely, we’re just brushing him aside with comments like “he doesn’t punch hard enough, can’t take it to the body, can’t take it to the chin, he’s too clumsy,” or some such drivel. At one time or another, those were things said about Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano, and those guys turned out OK.