So Where Does Wlad Go From Here?

[marbleheadmaui]

With the exception of his brother (I just don't know what to make of that so I'm going to just ignore it) Wlad has now defeated ten Ring Magazine ranked contenders in his last eleven fights.

Of the current Ring ranked contenders Wlad has beaten #'s 2, 5 and 6. So who does that leave?

In the order of their rankings

Povetkin
Adamek (he's, ahem, busy)
Dimitrenko
Boytsov
Helenius
Arreola

Let's go through them

Povetkin-Pluses, unbeaten, amateur pedigree, good puncher, has fought several gigantic fighters, trained by Teddy Atlas. Minuses He's another one of those good all around 6'2, 230 pounders with ordinary reach. We've seen this film already but he's the highest ranked guy..

Dimitrenko-Pluses, Taller, heavier and longer than Wlad. Coming off a good win over Albert Sosnowski and seems to have learned from the Chambers fight. Minuses Eddie Chambers was able to really dominate him. Eddie went wherever he wanted and he hurt Dimitrenko. Bad memory, but as said, he seems to have improved. Not a bad next fight.

Boystov-Pluses-Technically pretty good, likes to fight, seems to bring some sting when he punches. At only 25 the youngest of the possibles. Unbeaten. Minuses-Yet another 6'2, 220 guy. Biggest win is probably Bedenko, not impressive. Vinny freaking Madelone went the distance with him a couple of years ago. Too soon is my guess.

Helenius-Pluses-A BIG man at 6'7 and 240 or so. Has taken out a couple of names in Sam Peter and Lamon Brewster and has also beaten at least one gigantic fighter. Minuses Only had 15 fights and seems to have an August date with Liakhovich. Not a bad choice in my mind if he wins that fight.

Arreola-Pluses-There is absolute 100% certainty he would show up and fight hard. Big enough to compete, punches hard enough to be a threat. Seems to have his weight under control. Minuses-Always possible he shows up at 260 and stinks out the joint. Dominated by Vitali already. If he can't get by Adamek how does this get marketed? If Arreola shows up fit and destroys Ahunanya next week, why not?

It seems to me the right candidates are Povetkin, Arreola, Helenius and Dimitrenko. Helenius' people may think he needs another couple of fights so I'll guess he's out for now.

The right order is probably Povetkin, Arreola and Dimitrenko.

If Povetkin passes, is it possible Arreola gets the nod because HBO would be willing to pay something for a fit Arreola?

Where should Wlad go next?