Wladimir Klitschko vs. Sultan Ibragimov in 2008?

According to Sports Illustrated, International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is in talks with World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov about a possible unification bout in 2008. Klitschko, 31, the younger brother of former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, has been obsessed with unifying the title for the past year. However, up to this point Wladimir has had little luck in attracting the other heavyweight title holders into a bout with him. Ibragimov, who recently easily defeated 44-year old challenger Evander Holyfield, appears to be interested in taking on Wladimir. Why, that’s a good question. It would seem that Ibragimov would have little chance in defeating Wladimir, and by taking him on it would seem very likely that he’ll lose his title, and and look bad in doing so.

However, it’s not so hard understand when you see that heavyweight challengers Tony Thompson and Alexander Dimitrenko are breathing down Ibragimov’s neck, both of which would have an excellent chance at beating Ibragimov almost as easily as Wladimir will.

The worst part, however, is that neither fight would bring in a huge payday for Ibragimov, because Thompson and Dimitrenko are still relatively unknown to most boxing fans, hence the fight wouldn’t draw flies. Even Ibragimov is hardly popular, with most fans not having a clue as to who he is other than just another heavyweight fighter.

For Wladimir, a bout with Ibragimov is hardly appealing, even though he gets to pick up another title in the process. Ibragimov is thought by many to be one of the weakest heavyweight champions in the recent times, and lucked out when he got the chance to fight the old and sickly Shannon Briggs for the title. In terms of true talent, Ibragimov ranks at the bottom of the top 10 heavyweights in the division, perhaps not even in the top 10 at all. He looked plain awful against Evander Holyfield, running from him much of the time and potshotting like a timid looking Floyd Mayweather Jr at his worst.

Perhaps in his toughest fight of his career, Ibragimov was held to a draw against Ray Austin. The draw appeared to be a gift, because Ibragimov looked bad, getting knocked down by Austin and dominated in the 2nd half of the fight. However, I suppose Wladimir feels he has no other chose but to take someone as poor as Ibragimov at this point, figuring he won’t get another shot at the rabbit-punching Samuel Peter until 2009, if even then. At this point, the other up and coming heavyweights still need to establish a name for themselves so that it will be worthwhile for Wladimir to face them.

One Response to “Wladimir Klitschko vs. Sultan Ibragimov in 2008?”