New trend for heavyweights!

[Klitsfan]

From Fightnews.com
Fighters from former Soviet block countries seem to be taking over the heavyweight division. Newly crowned WBO champion Liakhovich, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, by way of Belarus, joins WBA titlist Nicolay Valuev of Russia as the second Russian-speaking world heavyweight champion. There could soon be more to follow. Wladimir Klitschko of the Ukraine is expected to become the third current Russian-speaking heavyweight king when he faces Chris Byrd on April 22, and Oleg Maskaev of Uzbekistan hopes to make it a clean sweep when he tries to repeat a previous win over WBC champion Hasim Rahman later this year. Waiting in the wings are unbeaten contenders Sultan Ibragimov of Russia, his cousin Timur Ibragimov of Uzbekistan (who faces Calvin Brock on June 24) and "The White Tyson" Ruslan Chagaev also of Uzbekistan. Expected to join the mix in a year or two is 2004 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Alexander Povetkin of Russia, who is 6-0 with 5 KOs as a pro.

It seems a real possibility that all of the belts will be held by fighters from Soviet block countries!It is nice to see so many skilled heavyweights getting the opportunity to fight for titles in the past couple of years.

[gogs67]

From Fightnews.com
Fighters from former Soviet block countries seem to be taking over the heavyweight division. Newly crowned WBO champion Liakhovich, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, by way of Belarus, joins WBA titlist Nicolay Valuev of Russia as the second Russian-speaking world heavyweight champion. There could soon be more to follow. Wladimir Klitschko of the Ukraine is expected to become the third current Russian-speaking heavyweight king when he faces Chris Byrd on April 22, and Oleg Maskaev of Uzbekistan hopes to make it a clean sweep when he tries to repeat a previous win over WBC champion Hasim Rahman later this year. Waiting in the wings are unbeaten contenders Sultan Ibragimov of Russia, his cousin Timur Ibragimov of Uzbekistan (who faces Calvin Brock on June 24) and "The White Tyson" Ruslan Chagaev also of Uzbekistan. Expected to join the mix in a year or two is 2004 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Alexander Povetkin of Russia, who is 6-0 with 5 KOs as a pro.

It seems a real possibility that all of the belts will be held by fighters from Soviet block countries!It is nice to see so many skilled heavyweights getting the opportunity to fight for titles in the past couple of years.

Ivan Drago started it all off all these years ago!

[X]

Don't forget Ill Mitch

[Klitsfan]

Don't forget Ill Mitch

YEa he is awesome, a real force in the division.

[ross]

when you said new trend in the heavyweights I thought it was regarding how out of shape everyone is, fighters nowadays are alot heavier than in past years but how many of todays heavys can fight a hard pace for 15 rounds

[Unknowndonor]

The new trend is inconsistancy. You could say the reason for all of the top heavies having losses is because the competition is so good. Yea, right! We know the true story.

[Klitsfan]

The new trend is inconsistancy. You could say the reason for all of the top heavies having losses is because the competition is so good. Yea, right! We know the true story.

Yea the true story is there are more good fighters coming out of different parts of the world besides the U.S.A.!It is much more interesting having a lot of good heavyweights than one great one with a bunch of not so good heavyweights.I would rather have good fights with back and forth action than a guy who KO's guys 20 seconds into the fight.Don't get me wrong guys like Tyson and Tua were fun to watch but the fight with Brewster and Liakhovich was just as entertaining.

[Unknowndonor]

The new trend is inconsistancy. You could say the reason for all of the top heavies having losses is because the competition is so good. Yea, right! We know the true story.

Yea the true story is there are more good fighters coming out of different parts of the world besides the U.S.A.!It is much more interesting having a lot of good heavyweights than one great one with a bunch of not so good heavyweights.I would rather have good fights with back and forth action than a guy who KO's guys 20 seconds into the fight.Don't get me wrong guys like Tyson and Tua were fun to watch but the fight with Brewster and Liakhovich was just as entertaining.

Fighters from all over the world is great. I don't know where you are going with that, but it still don't change the fact that none of them are that good. Entertaining fights is what every fan wants to see, but someone has to be champ, not just a division of mediocres. Name one heavy that is consistant, regardless of nationality? You can't.

[Klitsfan]

The new trend is inconsistancy. You could say the reason for all of the top heavies having losses is because the competition is so good. Yea, right! We know the true story.

Yea the true story is there are more good fighters coming out of different parts of the world besides the U.S.A.!It is much more interesting having a lot of good heavyweights than one great one with a bunch of not so good heavyweights.I would rather have good fights with back and forth action than a guy who KO's guys 20 seconds into the fight.Don't get me wrong guys like Tyson and Tua were fun to watch but the fight with Brewster and Liakhovich was just as entertaining.

Fighters from all over the world is great. I don't know where you are going with that, but it still don't change the fact that none of them are that good. Entertaining fights is what every fan wants to see, but someone has to be champ, not just a division of mediocres. Name one heavy that is consistant, regardless of nationality? You can't.

WHat do you mean by consistant?A fighter that never loses?In that case Nicolay Valuev with 43 wins no loses.Ruslan Chagaev 20 wins 0 loses.Calvin Brock 28 wins 0 loses.There are many weight clases without a unified champ playing out just like the heavies but no one is complaining about that.Personally I enjoy seeing new prospects get the chance against belt holders,not just the same old recycled fighters going after the belts for the 4th and 5th time.I am all for the variety of matchups they have put together recently, as long as it makes for a good fight.

[Unknowndonor]

The new trend is inconsistancy. You could say the reason for all of the top heavies having losses is because the competition is so good. Yea, right! We know the true story.

Yea the true story is there are more good fighters coming out of different parts of the world besides the U.S.A.!It is much more interesting having a lot of good heavyweights than one great one with a bunch of not so good heavyweights.I would rather have good fights with back and forth action than a guy who KO's guys 20 seconds into the fight.Don't get me wrong guys like Tyson and Tua were fun to watch but the fight with Brewster and Liakhovich was just as entertaining.

Fighters from all over the world is great. I don't know where you are going with that, but it still don't change the fact that none of them are that good. Entertaining fights is what every fan wants to see, but someone has to be champ, not just a division of mediocres. Name one heavy that is consistant, regardless of nationality? You can't.

WHat do you mean by consistant?A fighter that never loses?In that case Nicolay Valuev with 43 wins no loses.Ruslan Chagaev 20 wins 0 loses.Calvin Brock 28 wins 0 loses.There are many weight clases without a unified champ playing out just like the heavies but no one is complaining about that.Personally I enjoy seeing new prospects get the chance against belt holders,not just the same old recycled fighters going after the belts for the 4th and 5th time.I am all for the variety of matchups they have put together recently, as long as it makes for a good fight.

I like watching all fights, especially evenly matched ones. What I'm getting at, is the "new guys" that might be undefeated, lose to the same old recycled fighters, who lose to each other. So, you end up with the same guys that have been there for awhile, and they are not that good.I hope one of the newer, undefeated heavies will step up, and make a good run, because, seeing the same old guys gets boring. Granted, they still make for good fights, but it's getting a little boring.
To compare, Barrera beats Morrales, Morrales beats Pac, Pac beats them both. Great fights between great fighters. Vlad beating Byrd, then losing to Sanders. Byrd beating Tua, then getting a gift draw against Golotta. Brewster beating Vlad and Golotta, then losing to Sergei. Good fights, but noone has stepped up, and IMO, it's not because of the competition level being good, it's because none of these guys are that good. I love seeing close fights, but some of these guys have had their chance, and they are still there. It would just be nice for one guy to be considered champ. Not five different guys by default.

[Klitsfan]

The new trend is inconsistancy. You could say the reason for all of the top heavies having losses is because the competition is so good. Yea, right! We know the true story.

Yea the true story is there are more good fighters coming out of different parts of the world besides the U.S.A.!It is much more interesting having a lot of good heavyweights than one great one with a bunch of not so good heavyweights.I would rather have good fights with back and forth action than a guy who KO's guys 20 seconds into the fight.Don't get me wrong guys like Tyson and Tua were fun to watch but the fight with Brewster and Liakhovich was just as entertaining.

Fighters from all over the world is great. I don't know where you are going with that, but it still don't change the fact that none of them are that good. Entertaining fights is what every fan wants to see, but someone has to be champ, not just a division of mediocres. Name one heavy that is consistant, regardless of nationality? You can't.

WHat do you mean by consistant?A fighter that never loses?In that case Nicolay Valuev with 43 wins no loses.Ruslan Chagaev 20 wins 0 loses.Calvin Brock 28 wins 0 loses.There are many weight clases without a unified champ playing out just like the heavies but no one is complaining about that.Personally I enjoy seeing new prospects get the chance against belt holders,not just the same old recycled fighters going after the belts for the 4th and 5th time.I am all for the variety of matchups they have put together recently, as long as it makes for a good fight.

I like watching all fights, especially evenly matched ones. What I'm getting at, is the "new guys" that might be undefeated, lose to the same old recycled fighters, who lose to each other. So, you end up with the same guys that have been there for awhile, and they are not that good.I hope one of the newer, undefeated heavies will step up, and make a good run, because, seeing the same old guys gets boring. Granted, they still make for good fights, but it's getting a little boring.
To compare, Barrera beats Morrales, Morrales beats Pac, Pac beats them both. Great fights between great fighters. Vlad beating Byrd, then losing to Sanders. Byrd beating Tua, then getting a gift draw against Golotta. Brewster beating Vlad and Golotta, then losing to Sergei. Good fights, but noone has stepped up, and IMO, it's not because of the competition level being good, it's because none of these guys are that good. I love seeing close fights, but some of these guys have had their chance, and they are still there. It would just be nice for one guy to be considered champ. Not five different guys by default.

I think it will play itself out in the next year and we will have a unified champ.Don't get we wrong I would love if somehow they could put together a tournament between the current beltholders.I see your point about the recent fights and that guys can come out of basically nowhere to challenge for a belt when they didn't earn the spot and have a great night and win the belt.That always puts off the tournament because of rematches that seem to go back and fourth.Fights that I don't understand are ones like Rahman VS Toney, the fight was a draw but Rahman has to fight Toney again, if he wins of course,while Toney sits and waits?I would think Toney should fight Maskaev and then the winner fight Rahman for the belt.The process has become a little convoluted in the past 10 years or so.I would like to see Rahman fight Valuev and the winner face the winner of the Byrd vs Klitschko winner and be done with it for sure but that is just wishfull thinking.

[Unknowndonor]

The new trend is inconsistancy. You could say the reason for all of the top heavies having losses is because the competition is so good. Yea, right! We know the true story.

Yea the true story is there are more good fighters coming out of different parts of the world besides the U.S.A.!It is much more interesting having a lot of good heavyweights than one great one with a bunch of not so good heavyweights.I would rather have good fights with back and forth action than a guy who KO's guys 20 seconds into the fight.Don't get me wrong guys like Tyson and Tua were fun to watch but the fight with Brewster and Liakhovich was just as entertaining.

Fighters from all over the world is great. I don't know where you are going with that, but it still don't change the fact that none of them are that good. Entertaining fights is what every fan wants to see, but someone has to be champ, not just a division of mediocres. Name one heavy that is consistant, regardless of nationality? You can't.

WHat do you mean by consistant?A fighter that never loses?In that case Nicolay Valuev with 43 wins no loses.Ruslan Chagaev 20 wins 0 loses.Calvin Brock 28 wins 0 loses.There are many weight clases without a unified champ playing out just like the heavies but no one is complaining about that.Personally I enjoy seeing new prospects get the chance against belt holders,not just the same old recycled fighters going after the belts for the 4th and 5th time.I am all for the variety of matchups they have put together recently, as long as it makes for a good fight.

I like watching all fights, especially evenly matched ones. What I'm getting at, is the "new guys" that might be undefeated, lose to the same old recycled fighters, who lose to each other. So, you end up with the same guys that have been there for awhile, and they are not that good.I hope one of the newer, undefeated heavies will step up, and make a good run, because, seeing the same old guys gets boring. Granted, they still make for good fights, but it's getting a little boring.
To compare, Barrera beats Morrales, Morrales beats Pac, Pac beats them both. Great fights between great fighters. Vlad beating Byrd, then losing to Sanders. Byrd beating Tua, then getting a gift draw against Golotta. Brewster beating Vlad and Golotta, then losing to Sergei. Good fights, but noone has stepped up, and IMO, it's not because of the competition level being good, it's because none of these guys are that good. I love seeing close fights, but some of these guys have had their chance, and they are still there. It would just be nice for one guy to be considered champ. Not five different guys by default.

I think it will play itself out in the next year and we will have a unified champ.Don't get we wrong I would love if somehow they could put together a tournament between the current beltholders.I see your point about the recent fights and that guys can come out of basically nowhere to challenge for a belt when they didn't earn the spot and have a great night and win the belt.That always puts off the tournament because of rematches that seem to go back and fourth.Fights that I don't understand are ones like Rahman VS Toney, the fight was a draw but Rahman has to fight Toney again, if he wins of course,while Toney sits and waits?I would think Toney should fight Maskaev and then the winner fight Rahman for the belt.The process has become a little convoluted in the past 10 years or so.I would like to see Rahman fight Valuev and the winner face the winner of the Byrd vs Klitschko winner and be done with it for sure but that is just wishfull thinking.

Agreed.

[ross]

If we had heavyweights who werent so out of shape wed get fights like this all the time, fights with a high intensity

[El Kabong]

That Povetkin guy is good he KO'd Muhammed Ali in 2 hahahahaha

This is good for heavyweights everywhere, it'll create more challenge and improve the training techniques of the American fighters. I think Brock, Chambers, Scott, Mesi Kevin Johnson (this guy drew with Timor Ibrigamov in his 4th pro fight!!!), Chris Arreola, John Chapman, Devin Vargas, and others will challenge in the division.

Rommel Rene looks interesting 19 years old 4(3 KO)-0

I still think Chazz Witherspoon is going to be good, Jeff Lacy's brother is an amateur super heavyweight

[CountryBoy]

LIke this guy

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