Wladimir: Who does he fight next?

Wladimir now has 2 belts (3 if you count the IBO but nobody does) and therefore he will have to satisfy both those sanctioning bodies. Here are the current top 10 rankings for the IBF and WBO.

IBF
1. Alexander Povetkin
2. NOT RATED
3. Vladimir Virchis
4. Hasim Rahman
5. Alexander Dimitrenko
6. Eddie Chambers
7. Calvin Brock
8. Tony Thompson
9. Juan Carlos Gomez
10. Lamon Brewster
11. Chris Arreola
12. Shannon Briggs
13. Andrew Golota
14. Oleg Platov
15. Michael Moorer

WBO
1. Tony Thompson
2. Alexander Dimitrenko
3. Vladimir Virchis
4. Serguei Lyakhovich
5. Matt Skelton
6. Kali Meehan
7. Eddie Chambers
8. J.D. Chapman
9. Hasim Rahman
10. Shannon Briggs
11. Vitaly Klitschko
12. Fres Oquendo
13. Jameel McCline
14. Luan Krasniqi
15. Friday Ahunanya

There is a short list of fighters Wladimir will be allowed to fight against here's my top 5.

1. Alexander Povetkin - Undefeated and he won the IBF eliminator

2. Tony Thompson - Had one loss really early in his career recently had a big win over Luan Krasniqi who oddly enough is getting a shot at Ruslan Chagaev.

3. Alexander Dimitrenko - he's undefeated and highly rated in both the IBF and WBO rankings

4. Vladimir Virchis - He has one loss (UD to Ruslan Chagaev) and he's highly rated in both rankings.

5. Nikolay Valuev - he is not ranked in either the IBF or WBO rankings but he beat Sergie Lyakhovich so a deal may be worked out to where he can get a title shot.

I would like to see him fight one of the bigger guys so he cant just jab to victory. Dimitrenko wouldn't be a bad idea.

Dimitrenko isn't a KO threat either....27 wins and only 17 KO's. Problem is he's trained by Wlad's former trainer Fritz Sdunek. Dimitrenko is 6'7 as well.


Thompson is 6'5 and a southpaw...I don't like that aspect at all but Thompson has 31 wins and only 19 KO's.

Povetkin isn't much taller than Ibragimov if at all.

Virchis is 6'4/6'5 and he is a power puncher apparently 24 wins and 20 KO's

Valuev is a huge guy as well.


I would love to see a guy like JD Chapman get on TV, I haven't seen anything from that guy other than that he can punch.

Shannon Briggs might get a shot at Wladimir. I would LOVE to see that fight even though Briggs has looked like shit in recent fights. they already dislike each other

Briggs doesnt deserve a shot for a title.

vs. Povetkin--Oh God NO!!! Please don't put us through that punishment of a matchup. Imagine yesterday's fight mixed with the 'not so fast' Eddie Chambers fight of last month. OK... you can wake up now.

vs. Dimitrenko--he is WBO #2, and the WBO already promised the next title fight to Thompson. At 36, I don't think he is going to take 'pass by' money. We know in boxing, anything is possible, though.

Virchis v. Gomez is a done deal, and I don't believe either of them can take a tune up;

vs. Valuev--He is already the WBA mandatory, and I am sure that Steward won't let WK take that big of a chance without a belt.

vs. Tony Thompson--the best matchup to be made, as far as 'ranking,' earning his shot, size comparison & potential for the fight. His WBO mandatory agreement also precedes the Povetkin win to become IBF mand.

Quite honestly, I barely even care. I haven't really enjoyed a HW championship fight in ages. Tony Thompson deserves the shot most, but I doubt they'll want Wlad in against a good cagey southpaw next, as he fought like dogshit against a fairly mediocre one last night.

Presumably, if he ultimately wishes to hold all four belts at the same time, he will have to fight an IBF mandatory next, hence Povetkin. Then go after the winner of Peter-Maskaev and then the winner of Chagaev-Valuev, if the latter ever happens.

Or is all that hopelessly wrong? Anyway, it will be Povetkin next, I reckon.

Briggs doesn't deserve a title shot but it would be great to see Wladimir KO someone like Shannon.


Povetkin isn't boring, CHAMBERS was the one not throwing any punches....Alex was very busy in that fight. Although Povetkin did get swelled up by Chambers pretty good.


I guess Tony Thompson could pose a threat and it would be nice if Wladimir KO'd him. A taller southpaw or one his one height would be a little easier to fight in my opinion.

Nikolay Valuev isn't a threat....that would be the easiest fight for Wladimir to look good in

I hope Sashas people are smart enough not to have him fight Wladdy just yet.

I would rather see Wladdy fight the winner of Peter-Oleg.

...I think another title shot is a long shot after just getting one. No one wants to risk it but then again it would mean more money for the fighters.

I just want Wladimir to have a interesting fight and one that draws a lot of attention from the media and that he closes out with a big KO.

I am not sure if Wlad HAS to fight a mandatory next or not...if he doesn't he needs to find someone game who he can just destroy in 1 or 2 rounds.




Funny how fast everyone forgot the Austin fight

Wlad should fight Vitali.

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

Wlad should fight Vitali.

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....let's not start that shit again, it's fucking stupid

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Originally Posted by Lyle

Briggs doesn't deserve a title shot but it would be great to see Wladimir KO someone like Shannon.


Povetkin isn't boring, CHAMBERS was the one not throwing any punches....Alex was very busy in that fight. Although Povetkin did get swelled up by Chambers pretty good.


I guess Tony Thompson could pose a threat and it would be nice if Wladimir KO'd him. A taller southpaw or one his one height would be a little easier to fight in my opinion.

Nikolay Valuev isn't a threat....that would be the easiest fight for Wladimir to look good in

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Briggs won't get healthy enough to do anything, so I won't even mention him. If only he had a chin and some boxing skills...

Your man Povetkin doesn't stand in the ring five rounds with WK, and it's because he'll gas himself out while WK holds him!

Valuev would be easy...? Have you ever been punched by a 300lber?

Thompson is basically the same height and weight (one inch shorter & a few pounds heavier), I think the fight should be made, and it is probably a good thing that WK fought two southpaws beforehand. Things like that will make it a better fight. Plus they will promote it as the whole US / Ukraine hoopla all over again, so it could be good money.

Well everyone is bitching that Wladimir needs to KO someone....Briggs runs his mouth, they have a history of not liking each other and Shannon can be KO'd.

Povetkin won't stand a chance but it's not because Wlad holds....and frankly thats bullshit Wlad didn't get 44 KO's by holding people.

Wladimir hasn't been punched by a 300 pounder but VALUEV got rocked by Monte Barrett! Imagine seeing a 7 foot 300 pound fighter dropped like a sack of hammers!

If Thompson was marketable he would have had a title shot by now. Thompson is a solid cagey veteran and he'll be a tough fight but he has NEVER fought anyone of Wlad's calibre

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Originally Posted by Lyle

....let's not start that shit again, it's fucking stupid

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So is the possibility of having the Klitschko brothers 1 and 2 and never having a legit champion

Show me a precedent that says the Klitschko's HAVE to fight each other....otherwise spliting the titles for a short period of time doesn't sound too bad.


We all know Wladimir is the true champion right now....he has the longest title reign and now has 2 legit titles.


go ahead and make a better case for the other guys

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Originally Posted by Lyle

Show me a precedent that says the Klitschko's HAVE to fight each other....otherwise spliting the titles for a short period of time doesn't sound too bad.


We all know Wladimir is the true champion right now....he has the longest title reign and now has 2 legit titles.


go ahead and make a better case for the other guys

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Any time there's a split of the titles it's bad. You know that.

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

So is the possibility of having the Klitschko brothers 1 and 2 and never having a legit champion

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If Klitschko #1 fights Chagaev #3, he can still become the Champ. That would make Peter or Maskaev #1. I think he is leaving the WBC for Vitali, because the green belt carries the most weight around the world. I really can't say why, but still VK's been getting first dibs to the WBC belt for three years.

WK does have to fight mandatories in order to keep all belts in this money hungry game. The WBA already has a 'super champion' status for this type of thing, and the IBF stripped Lewis right after he unified.

I hope it rolls like this:

WK fights Thompson, then the winner fights Povetkin. Mandatories satisfied. The winner can then go on to fight the WBA champ at that time.

Peter fights Maskaev then VK. The winner fights the winner of Virchis v. Gomez.

Happy Dreaming!

i fell he should fight povetkin next and it's a shame he doesn't plan of getting the wbc title. a peter rematch would be cool

It will be Povetkin next. That was the hole point of the mini tournament in the first place and Povetkin won. Whether or not he has any chance of beating Wlad is another story....

But at least we have a Unifiead Heavyweight champion again.

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Originally Posted by The Rookie Fan

It will be Povetkin next. That was the hole point of the mini tournament in the first place and Povetkin won. Whether or not he has any chance of beating Wlad is another story....

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On the other hand Thompson has won an eliminator as well, so he is the WBO mandatory.

I hope he fights Thompson. I do think Wlad will win handily, but Thompson deserves a shot at the title (and hopefully soon - he is quite old, if I remember correctly). I know Povetkin has earned his shot as well, but waiting 8-10 more months (including 2-3 tune ups) to fight Wlad will probably only improve his chances.

After Thompson and Povetkin it should be unification time again. If he can regain his belt, Valuev would be a great opponent. If not, then it means Chagaev will have earned his shot at the unified title, even if that fight would likely resemble the one on saturday. And then finally it should be against the WBC champ for all 4 belts. Hey, at least I can dream!

He'll probably fight Povetkin next but I'm with Mick on this one... he should face the Maskaev/ Peter to fill the vacant Ring championship!

I say screw the belts, let them strip him if their gonna (you know their gonna sooner or later anyway.)

Fight the Maskaev/ Peter winner, then possibly Chagaev if need be.

Thompson & Povetkin could face each other to further clean up the mess!

He's got 2 madatories if I remember correctly:Tony Thompson and Povetkin. He beats both although Povetkin will make him fight. I'd like to see a Valuev/Chagaev rematch and the winner fight him. Both have good chances of beating Wladimir imo.

Povetkin will make Wlad fight all of 4 rounds once you look at what Chambers did to Alex's face.


Valuev has no chance in hell to beat Wladimir


Chagaev I think is the #2 best heavyweight

hes fighting povetkin, its his manditory

I'd like to see him fight Thompson. Doubt it will happen though.

What is the rush with Povetkin? Doubtful that he'd beat him anyway if he got more experience but it wouldn't hurt.

I have heard Wladimir will be fighting Thompson and then Povetkin but either way it's those two guys and then he'll have a fight of his choosing if he's able to win both of those matches.


I like Thompson's style for Wladimir. Sure Tony is a southpaw and he's tall but if you look at his fight vs Krasniqi, Thompson is less of a "make you miss" fighter and more of a Winky Wright style punch blocker....I figure Wlad will be able to use his size and strength to open up that defense.


VS Povetkin, Alex is a good young aspiring heavyweight but he's going to bite off more than he can chew if he takes a fight with Wladimir soon. Wladimir is big and he hits hard and Povetkin's defense is as leaky as a civ....Wlad won't leave a little bump under Povetkin's eye the way Chambers did....if that is any measure of how he handles being punched then Povetkin might want to take out some insurance on his face because he's not going to look pretty when Wlad gets done with him.


I do as a fan of boxing hope that Wladimir gets impressive KO's in both of these fights, he needs to not only focus on winning as the Champion he needs to focus on winning big!