Klitschko-Charr undercard fights

By Marcus Richardson: The September 8th fight card headlined by WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (44-2, 40 KO’s) vs. Manuel Charr (21-0, 11 KO’s) will have a large undercard of notable Eastern European fighters at the Olimpiyskiy, Moscow, Russia. There’s no real stars on the undercard but there are a handful of fighters that could wind up as champions at some point in the future.

Here’s the undercard bouts:

Magomed Abdusalamov vs Jameel McCline
Andrey Meryasev vs Muhitdin Rajapbaev
Ayup Arsaev vs Khavazhy Khatsyhau
Maxim Vlasov vs Khoren Gevor
Vyacheslav Glazkov vs Konstantin Airich

The Vlasov-Gevor fight should be competitive as both guys are evenly matched, but the other fights look like mismatches. The Abdusalamov-McCline fight could end really early if Abdusalamov is able to blitz the 42-year-old McCline in the first couple of rounds like he did against Maurice Byarm last month. Abdusalamov blew Byarm away in an impressive 2nd round TKO win.

McCline hasn’t faced a puncher like Abdusalamov since being destroyed by Chris Arreola three years ago. This should give a good indication of where the 31-year-old Abdusalamov is at in terms of talent. He’s going to need to start moving up quickly in the ranks if he wants to get a title shot before he reaches his mid-30s. Abdusalamov can’t afford to take things slowly with his career because he got such a late start due to his extended amateur career.