Povetkin vs. Byrd and Brock vs. Chambers

IBF elimination tournament to find the new mandatory challenger for Wladimir Klitschko. The IBF did something good for boxing with some worthy challengers, the apocalypse must be near. :eeeek: :eeeek:

So Povetkin will take Byrd in his 14th pro fight. :clap: :clap:

 

What fight was it for Ike Ibeabuchi when he smashed Tyrd?

 

18? 19? 20? :dunno:

 

Aha.....and how old was Turd when he fought Ike? How old will he be when he'll face Povetkin?

 

Pretty big step up for Povetkin, of course Byrd isn't a big puncher, just a capable boxer, even though he lost some of the attributes that made him very difficult to deal with, he's still a very crafty veteran. His management team seem very confident in his abilities.

 

BTW I find it kinda ridiculous that 2 of Wlad most recent victims, that he beat very easily BTW, are considered worthy of competing in this tournament.

 

All four fighters will have to earn their title shot through two quality wins. That can´t be wrong? It certainly beats Hasim Rahman going through a string of bums to earn a WBC mandatory shot or Ray Austin and Sultan Ibragimovs mandatory positions within the IBF and WBO via their draw. Or Valuevs alleged WBA eliminator against Bergeron or whoever.

 

Povetkin and his team really must be confident. It's good to see.

Go Povetkin.

He looks exactly, I mean almost exactly, like my best friend'd brother. Who is a nerd that works for a videogame company.

Go Nick's brother!

 

I think Brock and Byrd are too highly ranked. I have nothing against the idea of a tournament, I'm just surprised that Brock and Byrd are competing since their defeats left no doubt. I even heard Brock barely won his last fight against a journeyman. Byrd fought once since his devestating defeat against a guy I've never heard of. The fact that there are other unworthy challengers doesn't make that right IMO. I might bitch for nothing though...

 

I disagree - considering that they're the top two rated contenders, I think it's better that a 4-man tournament is ordered rather than going straight to Byrd-Brock for the #1 spot.

All that said, I'm skeptical of this coming off without a hitch. I can see Byrd passing, at least at this stage of his career. Unless of course Sauerland is willing to empty the vault and Povetkin's willing to fight for free.

 

Brock gave Wlad a fight for six rounds. You might say Wlad toyed with him, but it was a 4-2/3-3-ish fight.

Give me two names, that would be willing to participate in the tournament and are more deserving than Byrd and Brock. I can´t think of anybody.

 

All points taken. But who should be in the tournament?

Maybe The Ring should start ordering eliminators. They've offered shit in their past few issues - hell past few years worth of issues. They're stealing subscription dollars, maybe they should give back in the form of sanctioned eliminators.

 

Well, that's what I find ridiculous, the fact that despite performing miserably against the champ, they're ranked #1 and #2. Neither did anything to get there again.

 

Here's the IBF ranking taken from Fightnews :

1 NOT RATED
2 NOT RATED
3 Lamon Brewster
4 Calvin Brock
5 Chris Byrd
6 Nicolay Valuev
7 Vladimir Virchis
8 Hasim Rahman
9 Ray Austin
10 Eddie Chambers
11 Sergei Lyakhovich
12 Evander Holyfield
13 Alexander Povetkin
14 Oleg Platov
15 Shane Cameron

Not much, I concede that, but Brock and Byrd aren't head and shoulders above the rest and since they both lost against the champ, I'd rather take Valuev and Virchis for example. But like I said, I might be too negative for nothing...

 

Exactly

Toney- Suspended
McCall- WBC mandatory challenger for Maskaev/Peter vs. Vitali winner
Vitali- WBC mandatory for Maskaev/Peter winner
Thompson- WBO mandatory
Valuev- WBA eliminator, eyeing the WBA regular belt.
Rahman- KO´d by Maskaev, had his opportunities
Ruiz- "lost" to Valuev, lost to Chagaev
Holyfield- please
Chris Arreola- for beating Tann?
Alex Dimitrenko- for beating Tann?
Wladimir Virchis- for beating Vidoz and Bidenko?

Can´t say one of them has a strong argument over Byrd and Brock. Besides I seriously doubt Arreola or Dimitrenko would be allowed in by their promoters.

 

Well, if they never get the chance to beat anyone based on the fact that they never beat anyone, they'll never beat anyone, you follow me?::

I'd rather have a relatively unproven commodity than 2 guys that proved they can't hang in the ring with Wlad, that's my main point.

 

Yes, but I don´t want to talk about Mayweather/Margarito again. :: ::

Kohl wouldn´t let Dimitrenko into the same arena with Povetkin, let alone the same ring. And Bob Arum is working 24/7 to figure out, how he can milk the mexican heavyweight Chris Arreola.

 

What is Povetkin supposed to do?? Make Byrd younger??

He is fighting this guy in his 14th pro fight....and is already the wrong side of 20 himself. Its not like he's a Spring Chicken.

Besides...Byrd got BETTER in the wake of the II fight.

Povetkin ain't fighting Prime Byrd, but II didn't either.

 

Forget the IBF rankings for a moment. Let's use The Ring Heavyweight rankings:
Wlad Klitschko
Samuel Peter
Oleg Maskaev
Ruslan Chagaev
Nicolay Valuev
Sultan Ibragimov
Sergei Liakovich
Chris Byrd
Vladimir Virchis
Tony Thompson

Just for the hell of it, let's also add (in no particular order):
Alex Povetkin, Evander Holyfield, Calvin Brock, Eddie Chambers, James Toney, Alonzo Butler, Alexander Dimitrenko, Matt Skelton, John Ruiz, Lamon Brewster, Oliver McCall, Oleg Platov, Shannon Briggs, Vitali Klitschko, Juan Carlos Gomez and Hasim Rahman.

OK, without being obtuse, take a look at who's fighting who in the immediate future (therefore not being available to fight Wlad anytime soon), and then decide on four names that should fight it out for the right to fight him next. Then compare that to the 4-man tourney recommended by the IBF.

 

If I understand you well, you try to make me realize that it is impossible to come up with a better line up than this given the circumstances. I believe you. Still, I think that's a disappointing group for the reason I gave earlier. I'd rather have Arreola or Dimitrenko, Valuev, Tony Tompson... Just for the sake of seeing new faces getting a chance to shine. You guys seem to disagree with that and I'd like to know why exactly. Imagine Brock or Byrd win the tournament, could you get excited for the rematch against Wlad? If anyone else win, no matter who it is, it would be a more compelling match up just because it will be the first time they fight Wlad.

 

That's not completely true. I wouldn't mind seeing Wlad fight Tony Thompson - just that I wouldn't mind that fight, while seeing the aforementioned four fight each other to decide who will be Wlad's mandatory.

Besides whoever wins those fights wouldn't fight Wlad until no sooner than this time next year, anyway. So he could conceivably fight a Tony Thompson next.

Also, if Byrd or Brock do win such a tournament, then they'll have earned the right to fight Wlad again, rather than just being pushed to the top of the queue. I guess that's the part I'm looking at, rather than Byrd fighting for an alphabet title straight off of a tune-up win against the scrub he fought a couple of months ago.

All that said, you did what I asked - you came up with four. And truth be told, it is conceivably a better list than the IBF has, with the exception that Valuev is holding out for a fight agaisnt Liakovhich for the soon to be vacant WBA title.

 

Tony Thompson is the WBO mandatory, which means he´ll likely get to fight for two alphabet belts soon. Why would be jeopardize his position to participate in a tournament, he cannot win? :dunno:

 

Because I want.

 

Glad to see some noise around 200+:clap: :clap:

 

Be careful. The Eastside Boys say the tournament and participants are rubbish. So which site do you choose? Eastside or Fightbeat. :stir:

 

That's a very reasonable point of view. Like I said, the tournament is a good idea, I'm just anxious to see new guys get in the mix. Povetkin and Chambers, I'm happy, even Brock to a lesser degree, I think he still can turn around his career. Byrd, I'm tired of seeing him. We all know he'll never be a dominant hw, his run is ending and he has been in numerous title fights, I'm fed up with him.:dunno:

 

I'm their spiritual leader. They send a spy here to gather Baron's opinions of the week, exagerate 'em and they make them theirs. Therefore Fightbeat >>>> Eastside Boxing.

 

Hey Jake, if the IBF mandates the 4man tourney and say Byrd says no, does he lose his ranking spot? Would they grab another guy for the tourney?


I love this idea and the thought of Povetkin and Chambers fighting is great. That is exactly what we need right now!

Now if Wlad fights the winner of Chagaev/Sultan in October and then takes his mandatory out of this tourney, then we're talkin businessopcorn: :cheer:

 

good question. I do know that when the IBF attempted to mandate a 4-man tourney between Sharmba, Gatti, Tackie and... someone else (Weis or Augustus, I forget which), Gatti refused, they dropped him and ended up going straight to Sharmba-Tackie. So I would like to believe yes, Byrd would drop. Whether or not another fighter is selected depends on availability - and of course said fighters willingness to participate.

I agree, especially on Chambers' part. He's way past prospect level and needs to step up; this is his perfect opportunity, rather than bunting his way toward a title without really knowing whether or not he's ready.

the only problem with that is, if Wlad's next fight is Chagaev/Sultan winner, then he's not fighting until next year.

 

The Ring can't order eliminators because then they would be a sanctioning body. You even allude to this with "sanctioned eliminators."