After dealing with both injury and illness which has kept him out of the ring since winning the title in April, undefeated World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (23-0-1, 17 KOs) will be defending his title on January 19th against 40 year-old British heavyweight Matt Skelton (21-1, 18 KOs) at the Burg-Waechter Castello in Dusseldorf, Switzerland. For most people, this is a disappointing opponent for Chagaev, as many were hoping that Chagaev would either fight a rematch with Nicolay Valuev, whom Chagaev, 29, defeated by a majority decision in April.
In truth, it appeared Chagaev had not done enough to win the bout, as he only fought in spurts, and spent a lot of time running from Valuev. Of the punches he did land, most of Chagaev’s shots landed on Valuev’s arms or upper chest. Rarely did Chagaev, only 6’1′, connect with a head shot against Valuev. It seemed to be another poor decision in Germany, which I assumed that Chagaev would want to correct. However, in choosing Skelton, ranked incredibly #6 in the World Boxing Organization, Chagaev wants to have it easy for awhile.
Taking Valuev out of the equation, Chagaev could have faced John Ruiz, a fighter that Chagaev defeated by split decision in Germany in November 2006. I scored the fight in Ruiz’s favor by at least two rounds. However, Ruiz was probably thought to be too dangerous an opponent for Chagaev, especially after a long lay off.
I see Chagaev being matched carefully to avoid him losing his title, because he’s not a large heavyweight and would likely be beaten by the bigger, more athletic heavyweights like Alexander Dimitrenko, Tony Thompson, Alexander Povetkin, and Serguei Liakhovich. I’d pick Valuev to beat Chagaev in a rematch, but only if the fight takes place in a neutral country. Valuev wouldn’t win in Germany, that is, unless he knocks Chagaev out, and that likely won’t happen because he’ll stay on the outside like he did last time.