Andrew Walker – With the disappointing news that Britain’s David Haye has had to pull out of his proposed June 20th showdown with WBO, IBF & IBO heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko due to a back injury, who will now step in and try to wrestle the titles from the divisions number one? Most boxing pundits and writers will have seen their inboxes filled with press releases from various promoters and fighters this morning, all eager to fill the void left by the Haye withdrawal. Many of them are the usual American based suspects who would do little more than come to the Veltins Arena in Germany for a payday and a hug or two with Wlad.
That’s not too say that there are not a few American based fighters worthy of a shot but the few who spring to mind are either tied up with their own fights in the coming weeks/months or not quite ready to take such a big step up in class and be placed in a ring on foreign shores against a champion of the calibre of Wladimir Klitschko just yet. Except maybe Chris Arreola?
The four fighters who immediately spring to mind who could step in with such short notice and make a competitive fight are:
1. Ruslan Chagaev.
2. Nikolay Valuev.
3. Chris Arreola
4. Odlanier Solis.
Of the four Ruslan Chagaev is the one most likely to step in and replace David Haye and would appear to be the logical choice. It would also create a Ring Magazine heavyweight champion. Just last week Chagaev and Nikolay Valuev were due to meet in Helsinki to finally put to rest who is the real WBA heavyweight champion. The fight was called off the day before with the official reason being that Chagaev had failed a blood test and therefore Valuev’s health could not be guaranteed.
Chagaev’s blood condition (hepatitis) has not been an issue in any of his previous bouts and the general feeling is that Team Sauerland (Valuev’s promoter) just do not want to risk losing again to Chagaev in the ring preferring to try and wrest away Chagaev’s claim to the WBA title in a court room instead. For me this makes the notion that Valuev and his promoter Team Sauerland would avoid a fight with Wladimir Klitschko on the June 20th date preferring to keep on “defending” his WBA title against softer opposition.
Chris Arreola has amassed a pro record of 27 fights, 24 wins by way of KO and no defeats whilst Odlanier Solis has only had 13 fights since turning pro. Arreola has more pro fight experience but has rarely fought outside of California let alone on foreign shores whilst the Cuban Solis is based in Germany and has had the majority of his pro fights there. I’m sure the tough Mexican-American and his team would take the fight if it was offered to them but I fear the one dimensional Arreola would not travel well and would suffer a humiliating loss at the hands of the younger Klitschko. Maybe Arreola’s best shot would be against the far less talented Valuev on home soil? That’s a fight I could realistically see being made.
Of the two younger contenders Odlanier Solis is probably the more gifted fighter having previously been a three-time world amateur champion and 2004 Olympic gold medallist. Solis also having the distinction of beating David Haye in the ring at the world amateur championships in 2001 at Belfast, inside three rounds.
But to put a 13 fight novice into a ring with Wladimir Klitschko so soon would be a heartless move for any promoter. But it is a move that his promoter Ahmet Öner is willing to take after putting Solis’s hat into the ring this morning issuing a press release stating that his fighter is ready to replace Haye.
It seems likely that team K2 will be pursuing the Ruslan Chagaev option but if that falls through for any reason over the next week or two then the likely hood is that they will indeed wait the three weeks the Hayemaker team say they need to be fit to fight and move the date back to July 11th. Either way as long as Wladimir Klitschko is facing off against Chagaev or Haye it is a fight that I would be interested in watching.