by James Slater – They say an unbeaten and largely unknown heavyweight can be a very dangerous thing, more so when the fighter has 20 KO’s on his record. Well, in returning from yet another enforced layoff due to a serious illness/physical injury, WBA “champion in recess,” Ruslan Chagaev faces such prospective danger in February of next year. Fighting for the first time since his January 2008 points win over British fighter Matt Skelton, Chagaev will face Costa Rica’s 33-year-old Carl Davis Drumond, currently 26-0(20)..
Not too much is known about Drumond, who has boxed all but one of his pro bouts in his native country (the one exception was a points win in Hollywood, Florida back in October of 2006). One look down the 33-year-old’s record lets you know he has not yet faced a single world class heavyweight. This is not to suggest Drumond has faced nothing but nobodies, though. A points win over durable trial horse Sedreck Fields is an okay win, as is a points win over former IBF cruiserweight champ Kelvin “Concrete” Davis, even if Davis had seen better days by the time he met the Costa Rican.
In a way, the choice of opponent Chagaev and his team have made to return against is a strange one. Should the Uzbekistan southpaw do away with Drumond in easy fashion, the fans will likely feel the Costa Rican was a nobody anyway. Whereas if the unbeaten 30-year-old either struggles or even loses on February 7th he will have lost in a relatively small-money fight to a guy no-one has heard of. Wouldn’t it have been better for Chagaev to make his return against a name?
Drumond, with nothing at all to lose, will be coming to win and will give his all. Reportedly a guy who always enters the ring in great shape, the approx 220-pound fighter has been a very active pro. Making his debut as recently as February 2005, Drumond has done well to rack up so many wins in a little over three-and-a-half years. Indeed, the fighter had no less than nine bouts in his first year as a pro, and the same amount the next year. There is little doubt Drumond is a hard worker. But the questions in this fight are all about Chagaev, really.
Will the WBA champ who has never lost be as good as he used to be, coming back as he is from his Achilles tendon injury (not to mention the fact that Chagaev has only had the Skelton fight since coming back from a bout with Hepatitis B.) Or will the enforced idleness have taken something from him? Will Chagaev enter the ring in Germany seriously rusty next year?
It would have to be considered a big upset if Drumond were to win in February, even if he subsequently turns out to be the real deal. At present, we don’t know if the Costa Rican is anywhere approaching a good fighter, however, and as such the man from Uzbekistan is the favourite. It’s tough predicting a win in this one, but Chagaev has to be given the edge – probably to win a clear points victory.