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The obvious two are Chagaev and Valuev. If Chagaev's team is being honest and Finland is the body that messed up, then he should be the number one guy. Valuev is the obvious choice though given that I tend to trust the government of Finland over boxing promoters. Both are interesting fights at least though and they've both been training.
Dimentreko and Chambers are both out as their camps are probably just opening. Quite frankly neither really has earned a shot, but they are decent fighters and would be good replacements if possible. It doesn't seem to be though.
Povetkin and Arreola have fought relatively recently and have no open dates, but neither of them are going to step up and take on Wlad in 17 days notice. It would greatly hurt their already small chance of winning and just be an awful career move unless they were offered a ton of money,
If neither Valuev nor Chagaev can step up and take the date for whatever reason, we have to either accept the date being cancelled and missing a heavyweight title fight or looking at those that are at desperate points in their careers. It is only 17 days people. You CANNOT fairly expect Wlad to secure someone top ranked. It is dumb, dumb luck that Chagaev and Valuev are actually seemingly viable options right now.
So who are these desperate KO victims in waiting? They are the likes of John Ruiz, Sam Peter II, Oleg Maskaev, James Toney, Evander Holyfield, and Oliver McCall. The fighters we can realistically hope for are the ones desperate enough to take a seventeen day shot in the dark. Real contenders don't have much to gain by being guaranteed to be dominated in their big shot.
Pray for Valuev or Chagaev. If it doesn't happen though, personally I'd rather see the date saved for any one of those names than it be canceled. I like me some boxing, what can I say?
Dimentreko and Chambers are both out as their camps are probably just opening. Quite frankly neither really has earned a shot, but they are decent fighters and would be good replacements if possible. It doesn't seem to be though.
Povetkin and Arreola have fought relatively recently and have no open dates, but neither of them are going to step up and take on Wlad in 17 days notice. It would greatly hurt their already small chance of winning and just be an awful career move unless they were offered a ton of money,
If neither Valuev nor Chagaev can step up and take the date for whatever reason, we have to either accept the date being cancelled and missing a heavyweight title fight or looking at those that are at desperate points in their careers. It is only 17 days people. You CANNOT fairly expect Wlad to secure someone top ranked. It is dumb, dumb luck that Chagaev and Valuev are actually seemingly viable options right now.
So who are these desperate KO victims in waiting? They are the likes of John Ruiz, Sam Peter II, Oleg Maskaev, James Toney, Evander Holyfield, and Oliver McCall. The fighters we can realistically hope for are the ones desperate enough to take a seventeen day shot in the dark. Real contenders don't have much to gain by being guaranteed to be dominated in their big shot.
Pray for Valuev or Chagaev. If it doesn't happen though, personally I'd rather see the date saved for any one of those names than it be canceled. I like me some boxing, what can I say?