By Scott Gilfoid: According to news from allboxing.ru, former WBA World heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (29-2-1, 18 KO’s) will be facing 33-year-old German journeyman fighter Werner Kreiskott (12-18-1, 8 KO’s) on Saturday night in an 8 round scheduled bout on the undercard of the Felix Sturm vs. Daniel Geale bout at the Koenig Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
Chagaev said in the interview that negotiations with unbeaten British heavyweight Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KO’s) have just begun, but are no means compete. Chagaev wants to get find a new trainer to help get him ready for the fight if it ends up taking place. It likely will if Fury’s promoter offers Chagaev enough money to keep his interest up. There’s no real demand right now for Chagaev as an opponent other than Fury wanting the fight, so it’s highly likely that the fight gets made as long as the money is right.
Writer Steve Bunce sees the Chagaev-Fury bout as an appealing one, saying to ESPN “Chagaev is a brilliant match-up for Fury, and if Fury were to beat him, it would make him one of the leading contenders in the world. Chagaev is still a handful and I’d argue it’s too big a step up after Fury’s recent fights.”
A win for Fury over Chagaev might make Fury an leading contender, but he already is ranked high by the WBC at #6, and he could be fighting for a world title already if he were open to it. However, just because Fury beats a past his best Chagaev doesn’t change the reality of what he’d be up against if he fought one of the Klitschkos. You can make an argument that Fury could fight Chagaev five times a year for the next three years, and he’d still be hopelessly over his head when he fights one of the Klitschko brothers.
The problem that Fury has is he’s not a big puncher, he’s got slow hands, he doesn’t have a good jab and his defense is terrible. Right now, Fury’s defense is his mobility and his offense. But neither of those will save him against one of the Klitschkos. He’ll still be in way over his head and will take a beating. So, it’s all well and fine that Fury could end up fighting Chagaev in November, but nothing changes at all when and if he gets a fight against the Klitschkos. 5’11”, past his best Chagaev doesn’t prepare Fury for what he’d be facing against the Klitschkos. It may give him a higher ranking, but he’ll still get whipped just as bad as he would if he didn’t fight Chagaev.
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