By Chet Mills: After his 11th round TKO of Tony Thompson last Saturday night, there’s still question in the minds of more than a few boxing fans about whether IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KOs) is truly the best heavyweight in the division or not. As for me, I’m still as undecided as many of the fans and writers are about who really is the best. Certainly, it was a good win for Wladimir to defeat his number #1 challenger Thompson, but then again, he wasn’t a particularly dangerous challenger given his lack of power, aggression, youth or background.

When you look at how good Thompson was, it really wasn’t such a big deal Wladimir beating. I’d give handful of other heavyweights in the division just as good a chance at beating a feather-fisted fighter like Thompson as Wladimir did, which kind of takes away from the Ukrainian fighters accomplishment in my mind.

I still feel that it’s up in the air in terms of who the best heavyweight is in the division. Sure, we can speculate all we want about Wladimir being the best, but until he beats at least a couple of big name heavyweights like Peter, Valuev, Chagaev or Povetkin, we can’t really even begin to consider Wladimir as the best heavyweight in the division. To crown him prematurely at this point is foolish, nothing more than wishful thinking on the part of the person giving Wladimir such a high regard.

1.) Nikolay Valuev (48-1, 34 KOs) - At 7′ feet 320 lbs, Valuev, 34, has the size and power to give Wladimir huge problems, and unlike Tony Thompson, Valuev has the power to hurt Wladimir, and take him out once he has him hurt. His speed may not be top notch, but given his long reach, his mauling style of fighting, and his ability to both box and punch, I’d give Valuev a better than average chance at beating Wladimir. He’s not the type of fighter that will allow Wladimir to stay on the outside and peck away at him with a jab, like Wladimir typically does against his more dangerous opponents.

For that matter, Valuev isn’t going to allow Wladimir to land right hands all night long as he was allowed to do against the much weaker Thompson. If Wladimir starts throwing right hands, Valuev will immediately respond in kind, adding powerful lefts in as well. This is a fight that Wladimir would possibly have to use his legs a lot if he has any chance at winning. He couldn’t stand in front of an ox like Valuev without being taken out in short order.

2.) Samuel Peter (30-1, 23 KOs) - The young WBC heavyweight champion from Nigeria has already previously had a scrap with Wladimir, a fight which Peter knocked him down three times and had him within an eyelash of knocking out in the 10th round. Nothing much has changed since then other than Peter improving a great deal, learning how to box and becoming even more experienced and powerful. He matches up well with Wladimir in the power department and in fact may be even more powerful than Wladimir. The difference here, however, is that Peter has already proved that he can take Wladimir’s shots, but the same can’t be said for Wladimir.

Peter landed only a very tiny amount of punches due to Wladimir’s constant moving and clinching, yet in those small amounts of times that Wladimir was hit, he was knocked down and around the ring like a rag doll. Next time out, I’m not so confident that he can successfully avoid getting hit by Peter as much as he did the first time out. Peter will be stronger, a better fighter when/if they fight again, whereas Wladimir will only be older.

3.) Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) - Although both Vitali and Wladimir have promised momma Klitschko that they would never fight each other, it seems that there’s a creeping likelihood of them possibly doing this at some point in the not too distant future. In an interview earlier today with a German newspaper, Wladimir kicked around the idea of a fight and didn’t rule it out like he had in the past, instead saying that his father could overrule his mother’s wishes and give the two brothers the go ahead to fight. If this happens, the 6′8″ Vitali may have too much power in his right hand for Wladimir to withstand for long.

The two have previously sparred earlier in Wladimir’s career, and Vitali reportedly always won the encounters. Vitali has just as good boxing skills as Wladimir, if not better, and had revealed a new weapon, a nifty-looking uppercut, that he used in his last fight before his retirement against Danny Williams. If Vitali is able to make it into the fight without any problems, I think he might be too much for Wladimir to take.

4.) Alexander Povetkin (15-0, 11 KOs) - A former 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist from Russia, Povetkin has the pedigree to beat Wladimir. So far, Povetkin has stomped on his first 15 opponents, beating most of them by knockout and beating some good quality heavyweights along the way like Eddie Chambers, Chris Byrd and Larry Donald. Povetkin doesn’t have as much power as Wladimir, that much is clear, but what he does have is a high work rate and a rugged style of fighting, the type that Wladimir typically does bad against.

Povetkin’s work rate alone would be enough to cause Wladimir tremendous problems given his history of wearing out early in his fights. Povetkin obviously is well aware of this and will no doubt be training even harder for a bout that he’d likely turn into one big pressure cooker of a fight.

5.) Ruslan Chagaev (24-0-1, 17 KOs) - Known by some as “The White Tyson,” Chagaev, the current WBA heavyweight champion, has excellent power in either hand, and is a natural counter puncher. Perhaps one of the worst nightmare match-ups for Wladimir in terms of style, the southpaw Chagaev has many different methods of fighting. First and foremost, he’s a counter puncher, but he also has the ability to fight turn into a pressure fighter much like Povetkin, which he can turn off or on in a single moment. Of all the top heavyweights, he’s perhaps the most flexible of the group, with the ability to adapt to any given opponent and change courses if something isn’t working for him.

When Chagaev’s in close, his power is comparable with Tyson, only a lot slower. If he can get close to Wladimir without being tied, he has an excellent chance at taking him out with something big. Clearly, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to stay on the outside and let Wladimir jab him all night like his fellow countryman Sultan Ibragimov did in his fight with Wladimir. Chagaev has an uncanny ability to come underneath jabs, moving inside and landing big shots. I can see him landing often against Wladimir each time he attempts to jab, which will probably turn Wladimir into right hand only fighter much like he was against Thompson.

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