By Jason Kim: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KOs) is looking into the possibility of fighting the winner of the August 30th bout between Nikolay Valuev (48-1) and John Ruiz (43-7-1, 29 KOs), who are fighting for the WBA interim title. According to reports, Klitschko’s bout against his IBF number #1 mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (16-0, 12 KOs) has reached a stalemate in negotiations over the purse split and European broadcast rights between Klitschko and Povetkin’s promoter. Unless something is worked out, Wladimir say seek out another alternative and try and face the winner of the Valuev-Ruiz fight instead.

Klitschko would much prefer fighting the 7-foot Valuev, which would be a fight that would give Klitschko another title to add to his collection of two others, while at the same time giving him a big name opponent that would likely sell very well around the world, especially in Europe where Valuev is well known and liked. First things first, however, Valuev must get by Ruiz, whom he narrowly defeated by a 12-round majority decision in December 2005 to capture his WBA heavyweight title.

There are many people who felt that Ruiz was given a bad deal in the fight that he should have been given the nod in the scoring due to his better shots landed over the course of the fight. However, Valuev has improved immensely since that time, and knows how to use his size better than he did back then.

Wladimir recently defeated his number #1 WBO mandatory challenger Tony Thompson in an 11th round TKO on July 12th, in Germany. Wladimir easily dominated every round of the fight, using his powerful right hand to keep the tall 6′5″ Thompson on the outside and at the receiving end of his fists. In the 11th round, Wladimir dropped Thompson with a single right hand to the head sending him to the canvas on his back. The fight was stopped as Thompson got up too slowly to beat the count.

It was the first defense for Wladimir of his WBO heavyweight title which he won in February with a 12-round unanimous decision over Sultan Ibagimov. This also was a one-sided fight with Wladimir winning virtually every round of the fight with ease, using mostly his left hand to all the scoring in the fight. Because of the ease with which Wladimir has been winning his bouts, he’s taken a lot of criticism from boxing fans who feel that he needs to open up more with his explosive offense, in order to make him a more exciting fighter like he used to be in the past. The Thompson bout partially succeeded in achieving that wish, but unfortunately for Wladimir, Thompson fought cautiously throughout most of the fight giving Wladimir fewer opportunities than he needed to look good.

In the past, Wladimir has made no secret about his desire to fight the 7’ 320 lb Valuev, who because of his huge size and reach, he would be able to give the 6’7” Wladimir a potentially tough time. To be sure, Wladimir would have the advantage in speed and power, but both of those would be negated by Valuev’s excellent chin and constant pressure that he puts on his opponent. Wladimir has a history of breaking down when pressured constantly, and this will be a point of worry for him against Valuev, who won’t let up on Wladimir for a second.

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