Sultan Ibragimov

Holyfield-Ibragimov: Does Evander Have Any Magic Left?

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holyfield33545.jpgAs four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield (42-8-2, 27 KOs) approaches this Saturday’s heavyweight championship bout with WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov 21-0, 17 KOs) at the Khodynka Ice Palace, in Moscow, Russia, a big questions looms about how much Holyfield has left in the tank after twenty three years as a professional boxer. Holyfield, 44, though he’s not fought as many bouts as many younger fighters, such as Wladimir Klitschko, his bouts have been much tougher, the type in which he’s stood in front of his opponents and traded shots for round after round. Along with his many wars, you have to factor in his advanced age which makes him one of the oldest heavyweights to challenge for a title since George Foreman accomplished the feat in the 90s.

While much has been made about Holyfield’s recent success over journeyman fighters Jeremy Bates, Fres Oquendo, Vinny Maddalone, and Lou Savarese, the fact remains that these fighters are hardly world class, and certainly not the type of competition to get a good gauge about how much Holyfield has left in the tank.

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Does Holyfield Deserve Title Shot Against Ibragimov?

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holyfield1122334455.jpg Four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield (42-8-2, 27 KOs) is poised to win his fifth heavyweight title next month when he travels to Moscow, Russia to take on undefeated WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov (21-0, 17 KOs) on October 13th. Never mind that Holyfield, 44, has done little to deserve a shot at the title since making his comeback to boxing following a two-year suspension by the New York State Athletic Commission due to “diminishing skills” following three consecutive losses to Chris Byrd, James Toney and Larry Donald.

Since making his comeback, Holyfield, ranked # 13 in the WBO, has faced in the following order: Jeremy Bates, Fres Oquendo, Vinny Maddalone and Lou Savarese. None of them, however, are ranked in the top 10, a fact which makes his shot at a title rather unfair given the fact that he’s essentially leapfrogged over 12 other fighters that are ranked ahead of him in the WBO. In the old days, a fighter had to earn his way to title contention by fighting and beating the best fighters, slowly working his way to the # 1 spot. However, in Holyfield’s case, all of that has seemed to have been thrown on the window to allow Holyfield yet another shot at a title.

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Chagaev vs. Ibragimov

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chagaev5737_01.jpgBy Sam Bevington: In one of the first boxing heavyweight unifications bouts in ages, WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (23-0, 17 KOs) will meet up with Sultan Ibragimov (21-0, 17 KOs), the WBO heavyweight champion, on October 13, 2007, in Moscow, Russian. Both fighters have recently won their titles, and neither of them have much of a following in the United States or the world, for that matter. In terms of talent, both Ibragimov and Chagaev have to be considered two of the weakest heavyweight champions in memory, at least as far as I can recall.

Ibragimov, 32, won his title over Shannon Briggs, winning a 12-round unanimous decision on June 2, 2007, in a fight in which Briggs threw very few punches. It wasn’t the case of Ibagimov looking good, but more so that Briggs appeared to be battling health problems during the bout, and had problems breathing. Rather than taking advantage of Brigg’s immobility and punishing him, Ibragimov mostly stayed on the outside and threw jabs, and looking very timid. As for Chagaev, he won the WBA title in April 2007, beating Nikolay Valuev by majority decision. However, it appeared that Chagaev, in fact, lost the fight, as was the case in his fight with John Ruiz in November 2006, where Chagaev won a 12-round split decision.

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The Paper Champion’s guide to avoiding unification! Ibragimov vs Chagaev in perspective!

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By Izyaslav “Slava” Koza: Recently I had the utter displeasure of reading Chris Byrd’s comments regarding how the October 13 unification bout is basically useless. Seeing as during Byrd’s paper title reign I felt he was the worst of the so called “titleholders,” it was my duty to provide a response to those comments, by putting together this little convenient step-by-step guide to what he, as well as others, have IN MY PERSONAL VIEW managed to do during their campaigns.

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