By Derek Kelley – I anticipated one of the most hyped World Heavyweight title fights in some time in the David Haye-Wladimir Klitschko fight to match the hype and resolve some questions on June 20. I was really looking forward to the Klitschko-Haye fight for the IBF/WBO/IBO Heavyweight Championship because of all the variables going into the fight. David Haye is a rising star in boxing who can promote a fight perfectly and did enough trash talking to the Klitschko family to upset Vitali and Wladimir greatly..
The trash talking was a variable that Haye and Klitschko fans alike wondered who would benefit more from it going into the fight. Would Wladimir be so discouraged that he would become unfocused and lose his temper on fight night? Or would Wladimir use the trash talking to better motivate himself for the fight with David Haye? How would Haye take Klitschko’s power? Would Haye’s speed get to Wladimir?
Those were questions on boxing fans’ minds for weeks through all the training and press conferences. David Haye is a former unified Cruisrweight champion who is known for a very explosive style of fighting. Despite only one loss in Haye’s career, albeit by KO, questions surrounding the strength of David Haye’s chin were obvious. And the issue of David Haye getting a World Heavyweight title shot despite few accomplishments at Heavyweight were also being debated. Wladimir Klitschko has been a very dominant World Heavyweight Champion.
Klitschko has six successful defenses of his IBF Heavyweight title and he also unified the WBO Heavyweight Title by defeating previously undefeated southpaw Sultan Ibragimov by Unanimous Decision. Wladimir Klitschko’s wins in his six defenses include top fighters such as Hasim Rahman, former World Heavyweight champion, and Lamon Brewster, who Wladimir avenged a loss against. Wladimir is the number one ranked Heavyweight by The Ring Magazine and has had few problems fighting the best fighters at Heavyweight. Wladimir’s chin has been questioned about as much as David Haye’s has. But Wladimir has came back from adversity to become the best Heavyweight fighter in the world with determination and adjustments that show the characteristics of a champion. David Haye has had a similar road that Wladimir had taken, but on a smaller scale as the Heavyweights are clearly a harder division to conquer than the Cruiserweights.
Wladimir Klitschko is also a humble fighter who prefers to do his talking in the ring but the trash talking clearly had Wladimir a little bothered. With two fighters so similar and their personalities so different, this fight was bound to be watched by many. But David Haye pulled out of the fight with Wladimir Klitschko due to an injured back. The hugely hyped fight was now in jeopardy. A ton of fighters lobbied for the open date with Wladimir Klitschko. But one opponent came as a surprise to me. Ruslan Chagaev.
I did not expect Ruslan to get the fight with Wladimir. He is the WBA Heavyweight “Champion in Recess” who just had a recent title defense win over Carl Drummond a few months ago. Ruslan, like Sultan Ibragimov previously was, is also an undefeated fighter. Ruslan Chagaev is also a lot more accomplished at Heavyweight than David Haye and is the number three Heavyweight in the world according to The Ring Magazine. Ruslan Chagaev has wins over former World Heavyweight Champions John Ruiz and Nikolay Valuev and won the WBA Heavyweight Title from Valuev.
The June 20th fight date for Wladimir Klitschko is not a disaster or a rehashed opponent afterall. And the Chagaev-Klitschko fight is for the Ring Magazine Heavyweight Title, Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir’s brother, won the Ring Magazine Heavyweight Title a few years back in the same type of situation Wladimir is in, which is the number one versus the number three fighter for the Ring Magazine Heavyweight Title. Ruslan Chagaev has never been down in his career and has good KO power. Ruslan is a southpaw and has been a career Heavyweight as a professional as well as being a well-accomplished amateur. At Heavyweight, Ruslan Chagaev’s career is way more accomplished than David Haye’s.
Chagaev typically is a 1-2 fighter but he has used that style to get him to the elite of Heavyweight boxing. Ruslan Chagaev will be among Wladimir Klitschko’s best opponents to date and is arguably Wladimir’s toughest defense based on Ruslan’s style and accomplishments. Ruslan is a southpaw and the last time Wladimir fought a southpaw in Sultan Ibragimov he fought a very cautious fight and won a unanimous decision, often trying to knock down Ibragimov’s jab. On paper the Klitschko-Chagaev fight has the makings of getting the Heavyweight division back on track and the drama of Wladimir facing a southpaw once again. Boxing fans are lucky and rewarded after all with David Haye puling out of the fight. Instead we get a fight for The Ring Magazine Heavyweight Title with the number one Heavyweight in Wladimir Klitschko against the accomplished number three Heavyweight Ruslan Chagaev.
I see Wladimir Klitschko starting slow but using his height to land the jab very often on Chagaev. With the right hand and left hook landing often as well on Chagaev. I see Chagaev being successful early on, even landing the left hand at times, but all of his work will fade away as the fight progresses, with Wladimir Klitschko winning a unanimous decision and once again showing he fights the best and is cleaning out the Heavyweight division. HBO turned down a big fight in the Heavyweight Division in Chagaev-Klitschko. But it’s all to ESPN’s gain.
Expect the winner of the Klitschko-Chagaev fight to get more big opportunities to advance their career and legacy. This is Ruslan Chagaev’s big chance to accomplish something big at Heavyweight. Ruslan fulfilled the first part of doing something big by taking the fight on short notice with Wladimir, but he has to perform well in the ring to fulfill the second part. The Chagaev-Klitschko fight will be one step to closure and is a blessing in disguise afterall.