By Eric Schmidt: Much as International Boxing Federation heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko (49-3, 44 KOs) would like to have you believe that his fight with World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov (22-0-1, 17 KOs) on February 23rd is an appealing fight, I find it hard to buy into his way of thinking.

On paper it might be a vaguely interesting bout, only because of Ibragimov being an a still undefeated champion, but when you weight in all the other factors, like size difference, speed, power, level of competition fought, recent history, it comes out heavily on Wladimir’s side.

In point of fact, this fight has mismatch written all over it no matter how good Ibragimov’s inflated record may look. It seems as if Klitschko is taking this unification fight with the idea that he’ll be one step closer to proving conclusively that he is the top heavyweight in the division. However, it seems like an almost pointless venture, for there are few boxing fans who don’t already consider him the top in the division, and certainly they won’t think any more of him should he flatten Ibragimov on February 23rd.

In a way, this is a fight that Klitschko has more to lose than to gain, mainly because of the fact that so few people see Ibragimov giving Wladimir any problems at all. Being so much of an underdog, naturally, Ibragimov, if he does halfway decent in losing the fight, Klitschko will look worse for having taken the fight. Indeed, this is almost the equivalent of taking on an older fighter, someone way over the hill and in their 40s. That’s how much of an underdog Ibragimov is going into this bout.

Emanuel Steward, Klitschko’s trainer, had this to say about Wladimir’s lack of competition:

“It does frustrate me,” said Steward. “I feel like I’m working with one of the best heavyweights in history. I think he’s at his peak but he doesn’t have anyone to fight.”

Steward has a point, for there are few top fighters for him to take on right now that the public would be interested in seeing Wladimir. Perhaps the number # 1 fighter that boxing fans would like Wladimir to fight is Samuel Peter, the WBC heavyweight champion, who Wladimir previously defeated by a close 12-round unanimous decision in September 2005. However, Peter has looked vulnerable as of late, getting knocked down several times by his last opponent, journeyman Jameel McCline. If Peter is unable to get by Oleg Maskaev, whom he fights in his next bout, then that would all but erase any shot of Wladimir fighting him in the not too distant future.

As for Maskaev, the fans would likely care little about watching Wladimir fight him, likely seeing him as an even easier victim than Ibragimov. It’s unfortunate, but after Peter, there’s really few other heavyweights to get excited about. Ruslan Chagaev, the WBA heavyweight champion, is another Eastern European fighter. He’s still relatively unknown, and appears to have a rematch coming up with former champion Nikolay Valuev.

That’s a bout that could go either way, which would possibly remove Chagaev from the equation. It would be better that way, however, for Valuev, the seven foot giant, would be a much more intriguing opponent that the smallish, 6′ Chagaev.