By Joe Harrison
 
We are at the halfway point of 2009, and finally we have someone who can be regarded as the Heavyweight Champion. On June 20th, Wladimir Klitschko battered Ruslan Chagaev for nine rounds, earning the 10th-round TKO in front of 61,000 fans at the Veltins Arena soccer stadium in Germany. With the victory, not only did Klitschko retain his IBF, WBO, and IBO titles, but he also claimed the vacant Ring Magazine heavyweight belt.

It is rare when a replacement fighter is better than the fighter he is replacing. Initially, Klitschko was slated to face former cruiserweight champion David Haye, who seemed to talk his way into a title bout. However, just a few weeks ago, Haye backed out of the contest due to a back injury. Klitschko quickly looked for a worthy replacement, and many names were prepared, but when Chagaev came in, it was almost an instant done deal.

During every round, Klitschko (53-3, 47 KOs) kept Chagaev at bay with his left jab and occasional straight right. During round two, a single straight right knocked Chagaev down briefly. When the contest resumed, Klitschko was again using his jab and continued to land it all the way until the bout ended. As it was called off by Chagaev’s corner, Ruslan could not land any of his punches, was broken down physically and was bleeding from a cut above his left eye.  

With the victory, Klitschko solidified his position as the best heavyweight in the world. On an eleven-fight winning streak, Klitschko has only gone the distance twice. He won a title eliminator against Samuel Peter by a unanimous decision in September of ’05, and unified the WBO title with his IBF belt with his defeat of Sultan Ibragimov by unanimous decision in February of ‘08.

The IBF strap was claimed with a 7th-round TKO over Chris Byrd in April of ’06. Other victims of “Dr. Steelhammer” include Calvin Brock, Ray Austin, Tony Thompson, and former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman. Klitschko also avenged a loss by defeating Lamon Brewster.

Up next, Wladimir could wait for David Haye to heal up, he could go after WBA champ Nikolai Valuev, or he could await the winner of the upcoming WBO eliminator between Alexander Dimitrenko and Eddie Chambers. The most likely scenario is that Klitschko will face his IBF mandatory Alexander Povetkin with the fight taking place as early as this September.

While Wladimir is the first heavyweight to hold the Ring Magazine title since older brother Vitali Klitschko relinquished it by retiring back in ’05, he also appears to be well above all the other heavyweights in the division. Of course, there is the exception of older brother Vitali, who some feel is still the best heavyweight, but has accomplished less than Wladimir in the last few years. Let’s take a look at the other top heavyweights in the division.  

2. Vitali Klitschko (37-2, 36 KOs) – In March, “Dr. Ironfist” successfully defended his WBC title with a ninth-round TKO over Juan Carlos Gomez. Klitschko was ordered by the WBC to face another mandatory, Oleg Maskaev. Recently, Vitali won an arbitration hearing; therefore, he is free to choose his next opponent. It appears that Vitali is negotiating with former cruiserweight champ David Haye for a bout in September given that Haye can heal in a timely matter. Otherwise, Klitschko has also expressed interest in facing top contender Chris Arreola.
 
3. Nikolai Valuev (50-1, 34 KOs) – Despite a poor showing in his last bout against Evander Holyfield, the record shows that “The Russian Giant” was victorious by a majority decision. Since Chagaev was not able to face Valuev in May, the WBA confirmed that Nikolai is their champion. While most would love to see Valuev step in the ring with a Klitschko, he may face John Ruiz for a third time instead. Kali Meehan is in the mix as well. 

4. Alexander Povetkin (17-0, 12 KOs) – While Wladimir Klitschko was preparing to meet David Haye, IBF number-one ranked Povetkin stayed busy by facing Jason Estrada and won by a unanimous decision. Now it appears that he will finally fight Klitschko, probably in September. If so, will Povetkin fare any better than Chagaev?

5. Eddie Chambers (34-1, 18 KOs) – The future was looking bleak after his loss to Povetkin in January of ’08, but “Fast” Eddie Chambers finds himself right back in the mix. Last March, Chambers resurrected his career with a majority decision victory over former WBC heavyweight champ Samuel Peter. Next up, he will face Alexander Dimitrenko on July 4th in a WBO eliminator. The winner will become a mandatory challenger for Wladimir Klitschko.
 
6. Chris Arreola (27-0, 24 KOs) – While awaiting Wladimir Klitschko’s decision on who his next opponent would be, “The Nightmare” wisely chose not to wait and stayed busy. In April, he faced former title challenger Jameel McCline. Arreola made quick work of McCline, knocking him out in the fourth round. Although Arreola was not ready to step in for David Haye once his injury was announced, he is still anxious to face one of the Klitschko brothers if another opportunity rises.

7. Alexander Dimitrenko (29-0, 19 KOs) – Ever since his third-round destruction of Luan Krasniqi last November, “Sascha” has remained inactive. Now he is scheduled to face Eddie Chambers on July 4th in a WBO eliminator. Will this 6’7 Ukrainian be too much for the American?

8. Ruslan Chagaev (25-1-1, 17 KOs) – Upon losing the one-sided affair against Wladimir Klitschko, the “White Tyson” certainly did not live up to his name. On the other hand, there should be little shame in losing to the world’s number one heavyweight. It is Chagaev’s first defeat, and surely he could give any of the other heavyweights trouble. Will he stay active, or will he disappear like the other undefeated champion Wladimir beat, Sultan Ibragimov.

9. Juan Carlos Gomez (44-2, 35 KOs) – Gomez should not feel shame after losing to the world’s second best heavyweight, or number-one to some. Being stopped by Vitali Klitschko is a normal occurrence unless he injures himself or gets cut. Nonetheless, it was the first loss for the “Black Panther” since 2004, and he still has impressive wins over Vladimir Virchis and Oliver McCall. At the age of 35, Gomez should waste little time in making another run for glory.
 
10. Kali Meehan (35-3, 29 KOs) – Despite being inactive since last August, “Checkmate” is still around, calling out names like Nikolai Valuev and John Ruiz, and rightly so. The WBA named Ruiz their number-one contender despite losing three out of his last five bouts, including a loss to Valuev in his most recent contest. But Meehan has six straight victories, all by stoppage in six rounds or less, including a one-punch knockout of DaVarryl Williamson. Will anyone step into the ring with Meehan?

Other Notable Mentions:

David Haye (22-1, 21 KOs) – Just when it seemed that he would finally get the title shot he was begging for, the injury bug mysteriously struck Mr. Haye. Now that Wladimir Klitschko is moving forward, the “Hayemaker” may be left to settle with Vitali Klitschko, whom is free to choose his next opponent. If Haye does indeed face Vitali, he will have a lot more on his plate than he did against Monte Barrett.   

Oleg Maskaev (36-6, 27 KOs) – Since being knocked out by Sam Peter in March of ’04, Maskaev has racked up wins over Robert Hawkins and Rich Boruff. Amazingly, this has somehow convinced the WBC to make “The Big O” the number-one contender. Since Vitali Klitschko won his arbitration hearing, he will not have to face Maskaev any time soon. What’s next for Maskaev is anyone’s guess.
 
Kevin Johnson (22-0-1, 9 KOs) – After scoring a big win over Devin Vargas last month, "Kingpin" continues to move up the ladder and establish himself as a top American heavyweight. In his last few bouts, he showed off some knockout power as well. Now it is only a matter of whether or not Johnson can hang with the top-ranked heavyweights.

Samuel Peter (30-3, 23 KOs) – Coming off two consecutive losses, “The Nigerian Nightmare” appears to be in his very own nightmare. On the bright side, he is looking to continue and may appear in a fight card as early as August. With devastating power, there is definitely the possibility of him slipping back into contention.

Lamon Brewster (35-4, 30 KOs) – “Relentless” is back and moving straight ahead. He scored two victories over respected journeymen Danny Batchelder and Michael Sprott and is making forward progress. He was scheduled to fight in the Valuev-Chagaev event last month and was almost considered to step in for Chagaev but the entire event was cancelled. Now he is awaiting his next bout in which hopefully he will face a high-ranked name. 

Denis Boytsov (25-0, 20 KOs) – This 23-year-old recently scored an impressive knockout victory over Taras Bidenko. As the WBA Inter-Continental champion, Boytsov should continue climbing the rankings while he is still motivated and confident.