By Rick Reeno
In a recent conversation with BoxingScene.com, Boris Grinberg, manager of WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov, had some very strong words on the outcome of his fighter's unification bout with IBF champ Wladimir Klitschko. The bout takes place on February 23 at New York's Madison Square Garden and HBO will televise.
"Sultan will knock this Ukrainian motherf*cker out," Grinberg said. "Sultan is fast and moves so well. Nobody believes me, but he will knock him out. He's a very strategic fighter who knows how to improvise. You saw what happened in his last two fights with Shannon Briggs and Evander Holyfield. If Sultan feels that he has a chance to imporvise and change his tactics, he will do it."
Grinberg feels Klitschko is a very good fighter at the top of his game, but doesn't possess the versatility to combat a fighter like Ibragimov.
"He's a good fighter, but he's not a creative fighter. He only follows what Manny Steward tells him in the corner. This is going to be beautiful fight with two completely different fighters. A fight between a creative artist and big walking machine from the future. Sultan has a lot of technical skills," Grinberg said. "He was with of his sparring partners in the gym and Pantera (Edison Miranda) was there. Pantera said Sultan looked faster than him, and Pantera is a middleweight."
A lot of experts have placed their focus on the way both fighters performed against contender Ray Austin. Ibragimov exchanged knockdowns with Austin as they battled to a draw in July 06. A few months later, Klitschko blew away Austin two uneventful rounds. Based on how they stacked up against Austin, many view Ibragimov as a heavy underdog.
"A lot of people think like this. You have to analyze the situation. Klitschko is a different fight and this is a totally different type of preparation for Sultan. After the fight with Austin, we changed everything. You can ask Jeff Mayweather (Ibragimov's trainer). Sultan is a real student and he learns. He's the only Russian pedigree who is a real American fighter. Klitschko fights a German style, which is not an exciting style like American and Mexican styles of fighting. Ibragimov wants to be more exciting so he improved himself," Grinberg said.
The fight will mark the first heavyweight unification bout since Lennox Lewis fought Evander Holyfield in 1999. The promoters are expecting a sellout. According to one source, the fight has sold around 4,200 tickets with several weeks to go. Klitschko's last outing at MSG, against Calvin Brock in November 06, only sold 1,557 within the same timeframe.
