By Mark Hepplestall: More recently I have been researching into why there are not any heavyweight contenders that are good enough to challenge the current Heavyweight Champions. I started this research because I was depressed with the signing of Wladimir Klitschko Vs Derek Chisora, the annoyance comes from the fact Chisora has never went the full 12 rounds and in his 14 professional fights he has shown the world nothing that could be used to defeat Wladimir.

So instead of just saying how bad Wladimir was for making the fight I intended to find a better opponent, and I found none that would give us a competitive fight. I think that this is due to the fact it is hard for Heavyweight boxers in the top 20 to fight other boxers in the top 20, they all seem to side step each other.
The worst of all the boxers who do this include Tomasz Adamek, he is a Former light heavyweight world champion and former cruiserweight world champion. Adamek flew in under the radar in the heavyweight division; he never made noise and took his time working his way up by fighting a number of journeymen and an overrated hype job in Arreola. 5 heavyweight fights, only 1 in the top 15 (Arreola) and signing a World title fight with Wladimir in September, does this represent a competitive fight, no.
Secondly there is Samuel Peter 30, this guy has lost almost every match were he has fought against top level boxers, most notably Wladimir Klitschko twice, Vitali Klitschko once and Eddie Chambers. If he continues fighting he can only go for the WBA title against Haye, Peters best option is hard, I cannot see anybody in the top 20 that he would beat or I would like to see him fight, Alexander Ustinov would be a good fight but after he loses he should retire.
Thirdly there is Juan Carlos Gomez 37, lost recently to Vitali Klitschko and won his last four bouts against C level opposition. Maybe trying to get a fight against Wladimir Klitschko or David Haye which will cause either champion to be slated for taking the fight yet will be good for the sport as another huge loss for Gomez will surely force him to retire. Best Contender option for Gomez would be a huge money fight against fellow Cuban Odlanier Solis and would surely either move the winner up the world rankings or get a title shot.

Next is Denis Boytsov, undefeated Russian boxer who sports a 27(22)-0(0)-0 record, possesses great power, technical ability and great movement. Also he moves away from the overweight heavyweight image to more of a ripped physical specimen like the top 4 heavyweights in the world. This possible future world champion needs to face better opposition maybe time to challenge for the EBU. Best option would be Denis Boytsov Vs Alexander Dimitrenko.
Next is Alexander Povetkin, former Olympic gold medallist, backed out of the Wladimir Klitschko fight because his trainer thought he was not ready for the fight, which is true as he is still a youngster in boxing terms only having 19 fights against questionable opposition. His best attributes are his power and technical ability; Best Option is Alexander Povetkin Vs Ruslan Chagaev.
Lastly Ruslan Chagaev, beaten in a one sided fight against Wladimir Klitschko, but now the mandatory challenger to David Haye’s WBA title, however this fight is very unlikely to happen due to public pressure for the Wladimir Klitschko fight, and most importantly Chagaev has Hepatitis B, which is an incurable disease spread by blood to blood contact, this is very troublesome for Chagaev to make fights as any cuts that develop in fights could spread the disease. Furthermore boxers cannot get a license in the UK or USA with Hepatitis B, which would restrict any possible fight to Eastern Europe and I doubt Haye would travel into hostile territory to fight, as he isn’t the most loved of the heavyweight champions. Best option is to call a day on this Stop/Start career, must admit if I was champion I wouldn’t risk my health with Hep-B when I don’t need to.

Overall we have to see some serious competition, IBF tried to put a tournament together for the Number 1 spot to Wladimir’s title, Denis Boytsov dropped out, Banks (not good enough) dropped out, Mormeck dropped out and Eddie Chambers has already been beaten by Wladimir, why do these boxers insist on fighting B/C level boxers instead of proving their worth to the world rankings. Derek Chisora got his title fight from the Chisora Vs Sexton unification bout which was disappointing to say the least.