Quote Originally Posted by Bilbo
Quote Originally Posted by galaxy76
Credit to these two for making it happen & so soon, instead of talking all this sh*t these two are doing something about it!

My early pick is Chagaev
I don't think they deserve that much credit really. It's a sad fact right now that apart from Wlad the remaining 3 'champions' probably arn't in the top 5 best heavies out there!

If I was Chagaev or Ibragimov, I'd rather fight the other than Sam Peter, Lamon Brewster, Wlad Klitchsko, Tony Thompson, Eddie Chambers, Chris Byrd, Calvin Brock, Oliver McCall, Sergio Lyakhovich, Chris Arreola and even Evander Holyfield.

I wouldn't put either Ibragimov, Maskaev, or Chagaev in the top 6 heavyweights out there. Well maybe Chagaev creeps in there but the fact remains there is nothing seperating any of the top 2-15 guys in the division and a title fight is no harder an opponent than fighting anyone in the top 10 or 15 really, Wlad aside of course.
Well, credit where credit's due. They are unifying titles; this is definitely good for the division (and ultimately the sport). Also Chagaev has beaten Virchis, Sprott, Ruiz and Valuev in his last 4 figths - well, hardly an entrance ticket to HOF, but not too bad either. I dont think Thompson, Chambers or Arreola have beaten anyone of that class for example. Byrd or Holyfield haven't done it in 5 years.

And finally - they could do a lot worse than meeting each other. Just look at their respective rankings. Out of the WBA top 15 there are at the very least 10 names (and arguably 14), who would be a supposedly easier defense for Chagaev. The WBO rankings seem much stronger for some reason, but I'm quite positive Ibragimov could find an easier route anyway.

Finally - on a completely unrelated note - it seems like a bit of a stretch to call any of these fighters European-born, let alone promote the match-up as the first unification of that sort. I know they were both born in the Soviet Union, which I guess was an European country, but still - geographically they were born in Asia. I was just wondering if they are just calling them Europeans to make more money - and wondering if that marketing ploy actually works?