Arreola, Chagaev, Haye & Povetkin – Who’s The Best?

By Dave Lahr: As we survey the heavyweight scene one has to wonder who will be the top heavyweight in the future after the Klitschko brothers retire. As if now, there’s no one heavyweight that stands out above the rest. There’s currently four heavyweights that stand out from the rest of the division and look like one of them may have the talent to be good enough to dominate for awhile. With that said, all of the current crop of heavyweights is badly flawed and hardly the type of fighters that will make much of a lasting mark. Below I’ve listed the heavyweights that have the best chance of taking over after the Klitschkos retire.

David Haye – Easily the best talker in the division, and a natural born self promoter. Without having taken on any real quality opponents in the heavyweight division, aside from Monte Barrett, Haye literally talked himself into a fight with WBC title holder Vitali Klitschko. With a record of 22-1, 21 KOs, Haye has shown, at least in the cruiserweight division, to be a murderous puncher.

He looked powerful against Barrett as well, but looked more like a pot shot fighter rather than a tough heavyweight that throws combinations and can handle the give and take of a hard fight. He stood mostly on the outside against Barrett and was rarely hit by him in the fight. When he finally was hit hard in the 5th, Haye was knocked down by a left hand. The knockdown was waived off, luckily for Haye, but he stayed down for a long time recovering from the shot.

This wasn’t the first time that Haye has visited the canvas, as he’s been knocked down in three other bouts while fighting as a cruiserweight. Because of this, it’s hard to see Haye as being a future champion. He might win one, don’t me wrong, but I don’t think he has what it takes to keep a title if he’s forced to fight a war with one of his opponents like he did in his loss to Carl Thompson in 2004.

Ruslan Chagaev – A tough fighter with good power, excellent defense and a sturdy chin, Chagaev (24-0, 17 KOs) is the current WBA champion. Other than the Klitschko brothers, Chagaev may be the best heavyweight in the division when he’s healthy. The problem is, he hasn’t been in the past year. Since winning the WBA title over Nikolay Valuev, Chagaev has been ill off and on, as well as injured causing him to cancel fights. At 30, it would seem reasonable to assume that his illness and injuries will continue into the future and prevent him from holding onto a title for long.

It’s too bad, because when he’s healthy, he’s hard to beat. With wins over John Ruiz, Valuev, Michael Sprott and Vladimir Virchis, Chagaev looked like he was well on his way to becoming the best heavyweight in the division. It’s still possible, but he’s going to have to get healthy one way or another for that to happen.

Chris Arreola – Blessed with a lot of natural size and incredible power, Arreola is perhaps the best heavyweight to come out of the U.S. since Mike Tyson. Arreola, 27, had a good year in 2008, beating Chazz Witherspoon, Cliff Couser and Travis Walker, showing great power and an ability to finish off his opponents when he’s got them hurt. Weighing an average of 250 in his last two bouts, Arreola (26-0, 23 KOs) is already showing signs of training problems.

The weight is too high for him, maybe as much as 15-20 pounds, making him look fat and slow. Though he’s still winning, he’s not as impressive as he was before he gained the weight. It’s not a good sign that he’s already having weight problems at this early point in his career, because once he wins a title or two, it may get much worse. George Foreman got away with fighting at 250-260 in his comeback, but Arreola doesn’t quite have Foreman’s power or his excellent jab, which is why I can’t see him being a champion far into the future. Right now, I think he’s as good as he’ll ever be and will only start going downhill rather than getting better.

Alexander Povetkin – The 2004 Olympic Gold medalist for Russia, Povetkin (16-0, 14 KOs) has already beaten a string of good heavyweights in the past two years, defeating Larry Donald, Chris Byrd and Eddie Champions. The wins earned Povetkin the number #1 spot in the IBF, making him Wladimir Klitschko’s mandatory challenger. Unfortunately, Povetkin injured his ankle and has had to take some time off to recover. Povetkin, 29, is a punching machine, and tends to wear his opponents down with heavy pressure over the course of his bouts.

Not a particularly big puncher, Povetkin gets the job done with his high volume offense, which enables him to outwork his opponents and break them down physically. Povetkin’s one drawback is his size, only 6’2 227 lbs, which may cause him problems once he takes on a large heavyweight like Wladimir. The good thing is that there are few really talented big heavyweights like the Klitschko brothers, so when the two of them retire someday, this will leave the field open for someone like Povetkin.

If I was to pick the best heavyweight of the bunch, I’d have to choose Povetkin. He looks to have all the tools to succeed well into the future. His chin, offense and defensive ability make him a hard fighter to beat and someone that can carry on for years to come. At the same time, he appears well disciplined, not the type that would lose his conditioning or his drive for the sport once he’s a champion for a period of time.

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