I may may be in the minority here but I think International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (49-3, 44 KOs) is wasting his time by fighting a unification bout with World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov (22-0, 17 KOs), which is scheduled to take place next month on February 23rd at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York. I don’t see Wladimire gaining much be taking on Ibragimov, as most fans don’t really know much about Ibragimov, and the ones that do don’t particulaly care for him as a fighter.
The fight seems to be nothing more than an exercise in futility for Wladimir, as he’ll get an empty victory if he does beat Ibragimov, along with the WBO title, which isn’t considered to be one of the more prestigious of the boxing belts. Of course, the bout would mean something if Ibragimov was considered a talented and popular heavyweight, but he’s clearly not held in high esteem by a lot of boxing fans and writers, many of which look at his draw with Ray Austin in July 2006 as proof that he’s not a top talent in the division.
Even in winning his title, a victory over Shannon Briggs, it wasn’t that impressive considering that Briggs was reportedly rushed into the fight and wasn’t in the best of health at the time. Wladimir should have opted to take on one of the top 10 fighters in the IBF, someone like Nicolay Valuev, Alexander Dimitrenko or perhaps Sergei Lyakhovich. Any one of those fighters would make for a more appealing bout than what we’ll likely see when Wladimir meets up with Sultan next month. I know that Wladimir sees the WBO title as something that he can wave around, using a victory over Ibragimov to suggest that he’s clearly the top fighter in the division.
However, every one already recognizes Klitschko as such, without him having faced Ibragimov. He doesn’t need to go out and prove it, thus wasting his time. No one expects Ibragimov to be able to defeat Klitschko, as he’s clearly not in the same league as he is as a fighter. I could understand it if Ibragimov was thought of as a talented fighter in the same league as Wladimir, but he’s not and beating him won’t prove a heck of a lot. I suppose Wladimir’s going to have to figure this out for himself, because he’s not going to be adored or given any more of a lofty status than he has now if he beats Ibragimov.
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