No Heavyweight Title Unification in Sight

Has Maskaev/Peter got a date set yet its seeming to take an age to sort that out. And is vitali even coming back now he didnt get a shot at maskaev seems ive heard nothing about him since we found out he didnt get a title shot but had to face the winner, you would think he would be lineing up a tune up fight.

The HW division needs something to kick start it. Its stagnant.

Wladimir Klitschko looks like he already has his next two fights lined up. One against Brewster and then it looks like Rahman There is going to be Maskaev versus Peter and the winner against Vitali Klitschko. Obviously those aren't unification fights. I don't know who Ruslan Chugaev and Sultan Ibragimov are going to fight. It would be nice if they fought each other, but it doesn't look like it. Especially not in their first title defenses. I think the last time two heavyweight champs fought one another was Lewis versus Holyfield, that is ridiculous. These guys need to start fighting one another. Kilt won't take both of those fight...There is so much presure on the HW's right now that somebody will press the issue for two champs to fight...My opinion..

If Wlad wanted to make any kind of statement or pull at a legacy beyond physical talent and a suspet chin, he should go out of his way to unify. Ibragimov, Maskaev, Chagaev may be the three worst HW champions in history (besides Briggs) and bringing clarity to the division can't be a bad thing for the sport, or for Wlad's mainstream pull either Great post your 100% right.

I'm actually excited about these newer heavyweight champions. Chagaev and Ibragimov might not be as big as the Klits and stuff but they bring a lot of skill that you don't see out of much of the other heavyweights.

I think there's more politics involved than a boxer just wanting to fight a boxer from another organization. It sounds like you guys think the boxers themselves can just decide to unify the titles.

Chagaev is legit. He is a good fighter. Matter of fact every heavyweight titlist right now is a skilled fighter imo.

I think Chagaev is a genuine top heavyweight, as we'll see in his title defenses, although he's a tad small. Ibragimov is a decent fighter, but not top notch. Maskaev is actually very good, and might have been a great one, but he started too late as a pro. His early losses came as a result of moving up too fast (his 7th fight was with Oliver McCall and he was KOed) but he later improved greatly and has won 12 in a row against mostly decent opposition. There's been far worse heavyweight titleholders than those three, such as Ruiz, Akinwande, Briggs and Hide, to name a few. The division is much better now than it was a few years ago, but some people are reluctant to accept non-Americans as the top fighters and so complain about it being bad. It will likely continue to improve, with talented young boxers such as Boytsov, Dimitrenko, Platov and Povetkin coming up. Well we'll have to agree to disagree about Maskaev. History and the future will tell us that he is a decent fighter with average skills and a bad chin. Chagaev fought Ruiz evenly IMO, and Ruiz is certainly not one of the worst HW champions, he does fight like a disgusting Judo lover, but he is effective and has some quality wins. Ibragimov does nothing out of the ordinary. He has average power, average hand speed, but he's champ because Shannon Briggs is worse than he is. Besides Klitschko the division is extremely poor, regardless of what up and coming talent may get here soon

ESPN reports that Ibragimov's handlers have mentioned either Brock or Holyfield could be possible first opponents for him.

If Wlad wanted to make any kind of statement or pull at a legacy beyond physical talent and a suspet chin, he should go out of his way to unify. Ibragimov, Maskaev, Chagaev may be the three worst HW champions in history (besides Briggs) and bringing clarity to the division can't be a bad thing for the sport, or for Wlad's mainstream pull either

Ruslan Chugaev and Sultan Ibragimov should do what they can to work out a fight deal. Neither have major recognition other than the East and so the winner would not only have two titles, but also would gain said recognition. Besides, it would be a bigger money fight than if each fight other challengers.

America's best heavyweight is probably Calvin Brock.

I'm not mad at the Eastern Bloc holding the Heavyweight belts. Shannon Briggs is the best we can come come up with? Then the U.S. dosent belong with any belts. But the U.S. best heavyweights aren't fighting right now. They are playing football and basketball. Thats were the money's at.

The rumor that Wlad is going to fight Rahman is unsubstantiated. There is a better chance for unification now than ever before, because Don King has no heavyweight titleholder! Look for Chagaev, Ibragimov and Wlad to agree to a couple of unification fights within a year. Well, the rumour is coming from Dan Rafael, who is an ESPN correspondent, so it is somewhat reliable. Maybe the fight with Rahman won't end up happening, but I'm sure for a rumour to pop up like this it means there is at least discussion about a fight with Rahman. That shows that Klitschko isn't looking for a unification match if these discussions are taking place. I hope I'm wrong and your right, but I don't think so.

I think every time there is a new titlist the division takes a step back from being unified. With a new titlist comes two mandatory fights before they even think about unification. It just makes a unification seem impossible.

They'll probably fight their mandatories and lose. At heavyweight, everyone gets to be champion for one match.