the HW picture on dec 31st 2007-as i see it.

[ethanpiazza]

this is prediction for the HW division at the end of 2007:

CHAMPIONS:

WBC-Sam Peter(he KOs oleg, and defends late in the year)
WBA-Ruslan Chaguev(UDs valuev and defends once)
IBF-Wladimir Klitschko(Kos austin and UDs brestwer in a rematch)
WBO-Sultan Ibragimov(UDs briggs in a terrible fight and defends against a bum)

TOP CONTENDERS:

Calvin Brock(rebounds nicely with 2 decent wins and sets himself up for a shot at one of the 'other' title holders)

Hasim Rahman(Kos either mercer or krasniqi and wins two more fights against credible opposition to re-eneter the scene and set himself up for another WBC title shot vs Sam Peter in 200

Vladmir Virches(figths 4 times vs increasingly tough opponetes setting the stage for a 2008 breakout year)

Alexander Dimitrenko( fights 3-4 times and sets himself up as the WBO mandatory going into 200

Nicolay Valuev( he wont hang em up afetr losing to Chaguev, but will beat a few average guys, and will let don king do the rest to get him another title shot. if ruiz can get a second WBA title shot, so can this giant)


other notables:

Chris Byrd/James Toney/John Ruiz-these guysw ill retire at variuos points of the year

Evander Hollifeild-continues his comeback agaisnt oquendo-type fighters, but will lose if he fights anybody decent

Shannon Briggs-wont retire but wont get another title shot

Sergie Liakovich-will rebiuld his resume against C-lever fighters, and will hope for one more chance in 2008


Lennox Leweis/Vitali Klitscko-will stay reitred

Joe Mesi-will eventualy fight someone with a chance and have trouble

Alexander Povetkin/JD Champan/Roman Greenberg/Chris Aerrola-Will hit it big(especially povetkin)-but not in 07


thats just how is see it

thoughts?

[brocktonblockbust]

I agree its quite boring

[beerjelly]

Evander Hollifeild-continues his comeback agaisnt oquendo-type fighters, but will lose if he fights anybody decent

I hope youre wrong there, Id love to see Evander back on top one last time - obviously its no easy task for him and he certainly couldnt stay there long but with the division so weak at the moment I wouldnt say its impossible for him to pick up a belt before finally calling it a day.

[brocktonblockbust]

evander will once again surprise everyone and get a belt by KO'ing somebody a bit better than decent in August 07.

[DaxxKahn]

Not a bad outlook...very possible

[ethanpiazza]

Evander Hollifeild-continues his comeback agaisnt oquendo-type fighters, but will lose if he fights anybody decent

I hope youre wrong there, Id love to see Evander back on top one last time - obviously its no easy task for him and he certainly couldnt stay there long but with the division so weak at the moment I wouldnt say its impossible for him to pick up a belt before finally calling it a day.

i hope im wrong too...hes one of the best fighters of this generation and i too would love to see him get a belt...but he has taken ALOT of punishment...and lets face it wins over jeremy bates and fres qouendo dont really prove much of anything

[beerjelly]

Evander Hollifeild-continues his comeback agaisnt oquendo-type fighters, but will lose if he fights anybody decent

I hope youre wrong there, Id love to see Evander back on top one last time - obviously its no easy task for him and he certainly couldnt stay there long but with the division so weak at the moment I wouldnt say its impossible for him to pick up a belt before finally calling it a day.

i hope im wrong too...hes one of the best fighters of this generation and i too would love to see him get a belt...but he has taken ALOT of punishment...and lets face it wins over jeremy bates and fres qouendo dont really prove much of anything

Completely agree and im curious to see what he can do against better opposition. Ill admit maybe im thinking more with my heart than my head but Im not ready to write him off yet, he just might have enough left in him for one more great performance.
With the heavyweight scene so dull at the moment hes the only person (aside from the brits who arent quite ready to step up yet) that I can actually get behind and say that I want to see him win.

[Wacko3205]

this is prediction for the HW division at the end of 2007:

CHAMPIONS:

WBC-Sam Peter(he KOs oleg, and defends late in the year)
WBA-Ruslan Chaguev(UDs valuev and defends once)
IBF-Wladimir Klitschko(Kos austin and UDs brestwer in a rematch)
WBO-Sultan Ibragimov(UDs briggs in a terrible fight and defends against a bum)

TOP CONTENDERS:

Calvin Brock(rebounds nicely with 2 decent wins and sets himself up for a shot at one of the 'other' title holders)

Hasim Rahman(Kos either mercer or krasniqi and wins two more fights against credible opposition to re-eneter the scene and set himself up for another WBC title shot vs Sam Peter in 200

Vladmir Virches(figths 4 times vs increasingly tough opponetes setting the stage for a 2008 breakout year)

Alexander Dimitrenko( fights 3-4 times and sets himself up as the WBO mandatory going into 200

Nicolay Valuev( he wont hang em up afetr losing to Chaguev, but will beat a few average guys, and will let don king do the rest to get him another title shot. if ruiz can get a second WBA title shot, so can this giant)


other notables:

Chris Byrd/James Toney/John Ruiz-these guysw ill retire at variuos points of the year

Evander Hollifeild-continues his comeback agaisnt oquendo-type fighters, but will lose if he fights anybody decent

Shannon Briggs-wont retire but wont get another title shot

Sergie Liakovich-will rebiuld his resume against C-lever fighters, and will hope for one more chance in 2008


Lennox Leweis/Vitali Klitscko-will stay reitred

Joe Mesi-will eventualy fight someone with a chance and have trouble

Alexander Povetkin/JD Champan/Roman Greenberg/Chris Aerrola-Will hit it big(especially povetkin)-but not in 07


thats just how is see it

thoughts?

Thoughts? I think you put a bit of time into this one. Nice.

Thing is...I think that the heavyweight division is turning out to be really REALLY interesting & it's gotten a hell of a lot better in the last 6-7 months & I am honestly excited about it now.

I think that it's gonna be great this year. There are plenty of matches out there that give me the "shits & giggles" & that hasn't happened since Vitali's last 4-5 fights.

Can't wait.

[ironsteel]

george forrman done it at 45 but the division was really poor then but i doubt holyfield can do it since these russian guy are to good for usa

[ethanpiazza]

this is prediction for the HW division at the end of 2007:

CHAMPIONS:

WBC-Sam Peter(he KOs oleg, and defends late in the year)
WBA-Ruslan Chaguev(UDs valuev and defends once)
IBF-Wladimir Klitschko(Kos austin and UDs brestwer in a rematch)
WBO-Sultan Ibragimov(UDs briggs in a terrible fight and defends against a bum)

TOP CONTENDERS:

Calvin Brock(rebounds nicely with 2 decent wins and sets himself up for a shot at one of the 'other' title holders)

Hasim Rahman(Kos either mercer or krasniqi and wins two more fights against credible opposition to re-eneter the scene and set himself up for another WBC title shot vs Sam Peter in 200

Vladmir Virches(figths 4 times vs increasingly tough opponetes setting the stage for a 2008 breakout year)

Alexander Dimitrenko( fights 3-4 times and sets himself up as the WBO mandatory going into 200

Nicolay Valuev( he wont hang em up afetr losing to Chaguev, but will beat a few average guys, and will let don king do the rest to get him another title shot. if ruiz can get a second WBA title shot, so can this giant)


other notables:

Chris Byrd/James Toney/John Ruiz-these guysw ill retire at variuos points of the year

Evander Hollifeild-continues his comeback agaisnt oquendo-type fighters, but will lose if he fights anybody decent

Shannon Briggs-wont retire but wont get another title shot

Sergie Liakovich-will rebiuld his resume against C-lever fighters, and will hope for one more chance in 2008


Lennox Leweis/Vitali Klitscko-will stay reitred

Joe Mesi-will eventualy fight someone with a chance and have trouble

Alexander Povetkin/JD Champan/Roman Greenberg/Chris Aerrola-Will hit it big(especially povetkin)-but not in 07


thats just how is see it

thoughts?

Thoughts? I think you put a bit of time into this one. Nice.

Thing is...I think that the heavyweight division is turning out to be really REALLY interesting & it's gotten a hell of a lot better in the last 6-7 months & I am honestly excited about it now.

I think that it's gonna be great this year. There are plenty of matches out there that give me the "shits & giggles" & that hasn't happened since Vitali's last 4-5 fights.

Can't wait.

i agree, there are macthes out there that could be very interesting. no matter how good or bad it nis, the HW div is always the most followed and most talked about. so, for the good of the sport, lets hope these matches happen.