According to the latest boxing news, International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in the process of working out a heavyweight unification bout with World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov for February 2008. Nothing has been ironed out at this point, but the talks are very serious. However, the bout would seem to have little interest for the average boxing fan, most of which have no idea who Ibragimov is other than s short Russian fighter with a double chin and a physique similar to an average couch potato. Wladimir, however, seems obsessed with the idea of a unification bout, perhaps fantasizing that it will bring him more respect from the fans and possibly more money in the future.
However, perhaps what Wladimir is overlooking is that most fans have little, if any, respect for the 32-year old Ibragimov, who has a terrible looking hit-and-run style of fighting, and is about as interesting to watch as staring at paint drying. To most fans, they see Ibragimov as nothing but a temporary fence sitter, someone that is only going to be a heavyweight champion for a short period of time. For that reason, Wladimir would be better off either waiting to fight a unification bout with one of the more exciting heavyweight champions, like Oleg Maskaev or Samuel Peter, rather than wasting time beating up Ibragimov and getting little out of it other than his WBO belt, a belt that previously belonged to Wladimir.
A much more exciting fight for Wladimir, I think, would be against heavyweights like Nikolay Valuev, Alexander Dimitrenko, David Tua (Who happens to want to fight Wladimir), Juan Carlos Gomez, Sergei Liakhovich or Chris Arreola. Any one of those opponents would be much more entertaining to watch, mainly because of the fact that they all come to fight and would make it exciting due to their offensive skills. I’d pick any one of them over Ibragimov should he ever fight one of them, likely by vicious 3-round knockout.
That’s how good these guys are. Wladimir, however, will learn his lesson the hard way, that no one will care the least whether he beats Ibragimov or not. It will become apparent shortly after the fight is announced, when the boxing forums and sits pay little attention to the announcement. If the fight is held in the United States, expect it not to be a sell out, because only a few die-hard Wladimir boxing fans would want to waste their hard earned money on such a dull fight.