Klitschko-Ibragimov: Does This Fight Appeal To The Fans?

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.

read more

Joe Frazier: Could He Compete Against Today’s Heavyweights? Klitschko, Ibragimov, Chagaev & Maskaev

A fighter like Joe Frazier (32-4-1, 27 KOs) comes around on once in a great while. Though he was undersized as a heavyweight, standing 5’11” and weighing around 205 lbs, he always seemed to fight much bigger than his limited weight would indicate. With classic battles against Muhammed Ali, Jimmy Ellis and Jerry Quarry, to name just a few, he showed that he had incredible power that made up for his lack of size. He did, however, have problems with certain heavyweights, losing four of five matches to George Foreman and Muhammed Ali.

read more

Lennox Lewis vs. The World – Klitschko, Ibragimov, Chagaev & Peter

lewis446464646.jpgNow that a little time has gone by since Lennox Lewis (41-2-1, 32 KOs) has been out of boxing, I thought it would be an interesting idea to speculate how “The Lion” would have done against today’s top heavyweight champions – Wladimir Klitschko, Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev and Samuel Peter. Lewis was perhaps in his prime in 1997, around the time that he destroyed Andrew Golota in one vicious round at the Caesars Hotel & Casino, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At that time in his career, the 6″5″ 250 lb Lewis was almost indestructible, with impressive wins over Ray Mercer, Oliver McCall and Tommy Morrison already on his resume.

Although he would later lose by 5th round KO to Hasim Rahman in 2001, that was more of a blip on his career radar screen. in 1997, however, Lewis had next to no competition to speak of, as Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield appeared to want none of him, and rightly so, they would have most likely been easily defeated by this giant of a boxing legend. So, how would today’s top heavyweights do against this version of Lewis? I’ve purposely left out World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev because I don’t see him beating Samuel Peter in their scheduled March 8th bout, hence he doesn’t apply to this list. Here below I’ll discuss my thoughts on a hypothetical match up:

read more

Ibragimov Klitschko: Is This Another Mismatch?

wladimir5757433.jpgWorld Boxing Organization Sultan Ibragimov (22-0, 17 KOs) recently started his training camp in preparations for his February 23rd unification match with International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (49-3, 44 KOs) at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Ibragimov, 32, is a long shot at winning the bout with the 6’7″ 244 lb Klitschko, with few boxing experts giving him hardly any chance of surviving the fight without being knocked out, much less of actually winning the bout.

Ibragimov, a southpaw, won his WBO title the easy way, beating an asthmatic Shannon Briggs by a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision in June. Ibragimov followed it up with another easy win, this time over 44 year-old Evander Holyfield, a bout in which perhaps should have never been made in the first place due to Holyfield not having faced any top 10 opponents leading up to the fight. Obviously, it was a match made to capitalize on Holyfield’s popular name, enabling Ibragimov to get a good payday without much effort on his part. Despite being much younger than Holyfield, however, Ibragimov fought cautiously for much of the fight, coming inside rarely to throw punches, and treating Holyfield as if he was still a knockout threat.

read more

A Prime George Foreman Against The Current Heavyweight Champions: Klitschko, Ibragimov, Peter, Maskaev and Chagaev

I’ve always wondered how a young George Foreman would have done in this a day and age against the mostly Eastern European fighters. For the sake of this discussion, I’m pitting a prime 24 year-old George Foreman against the current heavyweight champions Wladimir Klitschko, Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev, Samuel Peter and Oleg Maskaev. At 24, Foreman was perhaps at his peak physically, a period in which he destroyed Joe Frazier in two brutal rounds, knocking him down six times in the process.

read more

Ibragimov Klitschko Close To Signing For February 23rd Bout

International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and World Boxing Organization heavyweight title holder Sultan Ibragimov are reportedly close to signing for their February 23rd unification bout, according to a recent Sports Illustrated article. Klitschko’s PR representitive contacted Sports Illustrated and said that the signing is almost completed. Wladimir Klitschko, 31, has stated that he wants to unify all of the heavweight titles, and the WBO – Ibragimov’s title – is the first goal in the long journey ahead of Wladimir.

read more

Wladimir Klitschko – Sultan Ibragimov: Is This Fight A Waste Of Time For Wladimir?

According to the latest boxing news, International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in the process of working out a heavyweight unification bout with World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov for February 2008. Nothing has been ironed out at this point, but the talks are very serious. However, the bout would seem to have little interest for the average boxing fan, most of which have no idea who Ibragimov is other than s short Russian fighter with a double chin and a physique similar to an average couch potato. Wladimir, however, seems obsessed with the idea of a unification bout, perhaps fantasizing that it will bring him more respect from the fans and possibly more money in the future.

read more

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Sultan Ibragimov in 2008?

wladimir125577.jpgAccording to Sports Illustrated, International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is in talks with World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov about a possible unification bout in 2008. Klitschko, 31, the younger brother of former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, has been obsessed with unifying the title for the past year. However, up to this point Wladimir has had little luck in attracting the other heavyweight title holders into a bout with him. Ibragimov, who recently easily defeated 44-year old challenger Evander Holyfield, appears to be interested in taking on Wladimir. Why, that’s a good question. It would seem that Ibragimov would have little chance in defeating Wladimir, and by taking him on it would seem very likely that he’ll lose his title, and and look bad in doing so.

However, it’s not so hard understand when you see that heavyweight challengers Tony Thompson and Alexander Dimitrenko are breathing down Ibragimov’s neck, both of which would have an excellent chance at beating Ibragimov almost as easily as Wladimir will.

read more

Ibragimov Defeats Holyfield: Should Evander Retire?

holyfield464444.jpgThe outcome was never in doubt on Saturday night, as the 32-year old World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion literally boxed circles around the 44-year old challenger Evander Holyfield in the process of winning by an easy 12-round unanimous decision at the Khodynka Ice Palace, in Moscow, Russia. The final judges’ scores – 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111 – gave no indication about how truly one-sided the bout was for Ibragimov, as Holyfield did virtually nothing all bout long except for follow him around and take shots to the head and midsection. In truth, Holyfield looked basically the same fighter he was in losing efforts to Chris Byrd, James Toney and Larry Donald in 2003 and 2004, only then Holyfield blamed the losses because of a shoulder a problem.

This time, there were no such excuses to fall back on because he was badly outclassed every minute of the fight. After a cautious first two round, I assumed that Holyfield would come out blazing in the third like he had against the four mediocre opponents he’d beaten during his boxing comeback. However, when Holyfield continued to throw next to nothing in the 3rd and fourth rounds, I began to understand that he just couldn’t, that he was simply too old to pull the trigger. By the 8th round, it had become embarrassing, as Ibragimov was hitting Holyfield at will and making him look like an old man, despite his still relatively youthful appearance.

read more

Holyfield vs Ibragimov In Moscow

A few days ago Sultan visited Red Square wearing a USA track suit. Moments after entering he was confronted by Kremlin workers lugging bags of Russian clothing gear who insisted that he change into their nation’s colors . . . I guess none of them noticed the ticket checker at the Kremlin entrance who was wearing a New England Patriots baseball cap . . ..

Moscow traffic makes the LA Freeway at rush hour look like the Indy 500. There are between 10-12 million Muscovites-and 4 million cars. Drivers park everywhere and anywhere, including on the sidewalk. One individual parked in the right lane of a three-lane highway. . . . Amazingly enough horn blowing is rarely heard . . .

read more