when will heavyweight titles be unified

[referendum]

One of the things that the caste media can use as an excuse to downgrade White heavyweight boxers is that the division has four different title holders. Any idea on when any of the belts will get unified?
I remember reading that if Valuev had defeated Chagaev he was planning on fighting Klitschko, but now thats a moot point.
Also, anyone have any idea on when Maskaev, Ibragimov and Chagaev will fight next?

 

[Charles Martel]

Oleg Maskaev is fighting on Sep 29th against Sam Peter. The word is that Ibragimov will be fighting Holyfield this fall if Holyfield defeats Savarese (I hope Sultan watches out for Holyfield's head butts). Chagaev has nothing scheduled yet, but he should have soon. Rahman has been discussed as a possible opponent.

A unification fight between Wlad and Ruslan or Wlad and Sultan this winter is not impossible. The main obstacle to unification in the past has been Don King, but he has no titleholder now.Edited by: JD1986

 

[white is right]

Part of the problem with unification is that new champions like to pad their bankrolls and records. So they will usually milk their titles for a while until the demand for a unification fight is too much and the purses are very large. If all things go as the oddsmakers say Wlad vs Peter II could happen in 08'.

 

[Thrashen]

Perhaps the most important (and most immediate) order of business is Wladimir getting past Lamon Brewster. Wlad is my favorite fighter, and I know he's training hard to avenge his loss. I just worry about him getting hit with a hard shot like against Corey Sanders. Brewster is far from the hardest puncher, and is greatly undersized compared to Klitschko. I predict Wlad over Brewster by TKO in round 8. If Sam Peter beats Maskaev, which may very well happen, then Peter will most likely face Wlad (and avenge his only loss). I don't really see any non-white besides Peter holding another title for quite some time to come. I hope the very best for all of our guys. Congrats to Sultan, too!

 

[Liverlips]

Wlad has an open invitation to fight the other title holders. But they are all promoted by different people. Now that we have Don King out of the way, maybe some unification fights can be made. Oleg was supposed to fight Wlad butyounger brotherstepped aside in the expectation that Vitali -- not Sam Peter --would fight Maskaev for the belt.

 

[JD074]

If Sam Peter beats Maskaev, which may very well happen, then Peter will most likely face Wlad (and avenge his only loss).

Well, I hope he doesn't avenge his only loss!

I think you meant that he will try to avenge his only loss.

I think Sultan vs. Peter could be interesting.

 

[white is right]

In October Iggy and Chagaev will unify their half of the the titles. They came to an agreement today. Maybe Wlad and the winner of Maskaev and Peter will unify the other half.

 

[Charles Martel]

In October Iggy and Chagaev will unify their half of the the titles. They came to an agreement today. Maybe Wlad and the winner of Maskaev and Peter will unify the other half.

This is great news! Wlad will be able to fight the winner unless the sanctioning organizations are uncooperative.

Now that Don King doesn't have his titleholders, the wishes of boxing fans are finally being taken into consideration!Edited by: JD1986

 

[Tired old White]

Doen't Vlad's big brother Vitali already have the first shot at the winner of the Maskaev vs Peter fight?

 

[JD074]

You really have to respect Sultan and Chagaev for doing this. They could've looked for some easy paydays as champions, instead of immediately risking that status with a unification bout against stellar competition. There was talk of an Ibragimov/ Holyfield bout, but Sultan opted for this fight instead. I admire that.

This could be a hard fight for fans to analyze. We're used to contrasting styles (Sultan vs. Briggs, Chagaev vs. Valuev,) but these two have a lot in common. Short, southpaws, good power, good movement. I think that fans will predict a Sultan victory because they're more familiar with him.

Tired Old White, Vitali might complicate this situation! It's possible that Wlad could end up with three belts and Vitali with one, or Vitali with three belts and Wlad with one. That may fulfill their dream of being champs simultaneously, but the fans and media will prefer one man with all four belts. Perhaps Vitali will step aside if Wlad can get the fight with Maskaev/ Peter instead. It'll be interesting to see how all this plays out. Edited by: JD074

 

[Angelcynn]

The Ibragimov vs Chagaev fight is taking place in Moscow, so I'm guessing it will get very limited coverage in America, because the majority of America doesn't seem interested in white fighters. If the four heaveyweight titles end up being shared between Ibragimov or Chagaev and also Maskaev or Wlad with 2 each do you reckon your sports media will finally give the new age heaveyweight division some well earned respect?

 

[JD074]

Apparently Wlad has been disillusioned about unifying the division and is no longer focused on that goal:

On a recent conference call to promote the fight, Klitschko revealed that unifying the heavyweight division is no longer on his mind. The abundance of politics and behind the scenes agendas have turned him away from the other three champions, and made him more focused on being "the champion."

"Theoretically it's nice to have all the belts and see one world champion, but practically it's very difficult because there is always a conflict of interest," Klitschko said. "I was trying in the last few years to unify the titles, but it didn't work, so I said to myself, 'be successful with one belt instead of four'."

He should brace for another disappointment if this actually happens:

Looks like the IBFelons have figured out how to get their heavyweight title from Wladimir Klitschko. Apparently, they're going to have Chris Byrd and Calvin Brock fight for the right to be next, presuming Lamon Brewster doesn't repeat the magic next month. Klitschko has beaten Byrd twice, Brock once. He'd give up that phony belt in a split sec to meet any of the other pretenders rather than face the winner of a Byrd-Brock match, now penciled in for the fall...

What a waste of time that would be for Wlad if he had to fight one of those guys again.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=9276

http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/6969064

 

[white is right]

If the IBF is proposing that eliminator they need to close up shop. What two washouts should quickly get into a title eliminator. Why not let some other boxer get a kick at the can. But this is boxing so that makes too much sense..