Chagaev vs. Skelton: Ruslan Returns To Action on January 19th

By Boxing News - 01/01/2008 - Comments

World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev finally makes his initial title defense when he takes on 40 year-old British challenger Matt Skelton (21-1, 18 KOs) on January 19th at the Burg-Waechter Castello, in Dusseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Chagaev, 29, has been away from the ring for nine months, having battled both injuries and illness which have kept him away from action for the longest spell of his career. Chagaev, a fighter with good power and excellent counter-punching ability, figures to be hugely favored in the bout with Skelton.

However, it may not be as easy as some people think for Chagaev to win this fight, as Skelton has recently come off of wins against Danny Williams and Michael Sprott, two good British heavyweights, and looked good in doing so. Skelton, also a counter puncher, can still punch with power, and his work rate is still high, even at this late age in his career. Although, ideally it would be far more appealing if Chagaev had taken on a younger, more talented fighter, such as Alexander Dimitrenko or fought a rematch with Nikolai Valuev, Skelton has the tools to make the fight interesting for as along as it lasts.

Chagaev won the WBA heavyweight title in a controversial manner by narrowly defeating 7-foot Nikolai Valuev in April 2007 by majority decision. In that fight, Chagaev, only 6’1,” appeared to hit mostly Valuev’s chest and gloves with his punches. Only rarely did Chagaev land a head shot due to his limited height and his rather timid style of fighting. The fight was unusually boring to watch because of Chagaev’s constant running from Valuev, who stalked him the entire fight, hitting him with a constant jab and right hand. I had Valuev winning the fight handily by four rounds, a the minimum, and saw the fight as one of the worse decisions I’ve ever seen. However, I wasn’t particularly surprised by the outcome because the fight was held in Germany, and the crowd was fully behind Chagaev, cheering every punch that was blocked by Valuev’s gloves, as if it were actually scoring.

I didn’t figure that Chagaev would give Valuev an immediate rematch, since he would very likely legitimately lose the fight if were to happen again. In selecting the 40 year-old Skelton as his first opponent, it seems as if Chagaev is trying to buy himself some time, and get an easy payday at the same time, before having to take on #1 World Boxing Association heavyweight challenger, who is none other than Valuev. I see Chagaev losing to Valuev in a rematch, because of his lack of size and his none engaging style of fighting. As for Skelton, he doens’t stand much of a chance because the fight is taking place in Germany, so even should the fight be somewhat close, Chagaev will likely win the fight by a wide margin.