Does anyone question the validity of Chagaev pulling out so far from the fight date?

[Heavyrighthand]

This is the second of August, and the fight is mid October. And instead of giving a bit of time to see if Chagaev can get over this stomach ailment, and at the very least, them postpone the long awaited unifiying fight, they sock Holyfield in there faster than you can say well f*ck me running.

After all the hype and bragging over finally putting together the first unifying fight in 8 years, and how much heavyweight boxing needed it, don't you think they were extremely quick in calling it off, when the fight is still so far off? I don't even think that Chag's training has started, cause the fight is still about 11 weeks away, yet they call it off immediately.

:blood

I think there is something else that has happened. The stomach ailment don't sound like reason to stop a fight this long before the date, especially after all the hoopla over finally setting this long awaited fight up.

[geppy]

That is just great, christ. Chagaev better have a good reason! Chagaev is going to get Holyfield killled. It will be his fault!

[Sweet Scientist]

I agree with you 100% Heavyrighthand. Something is definitely rotten in Denmark...or Moscow, really, I suppose.

[Marnoff]

Probably a pay off to get Holyfield in position.

[KO byBRIGGS]

I hadnt really thought about it but you are right it is a long way off and no one has even mentioned this until now. Holyfield was in there before we even knew the other fight was cancelled. What could be so bad they couldnt even postpone the unification? it would have to be something like shoulder surgery on a rotator cuff, anything else he should have been able to fight even if at a later date.

[Burundanga]

If this "stomach ailment" is anything short of cancer, then it is just a $ play by Holy, Chag and the WBO.

[RUSKULL]

Smells like bullshit to me. :verysad

Unification sound nice 'n all but Holyfield brings the money & somehow, somewhere, somebody got paid off. Ruslan's replacement being announced as Holyfield being done so quickly also reeks of avoiding a second unification option against Wlad Klitschko. Also, very sad. :verysad

Regardless, seems like a decent matchup & hopefully whoever wins tries to unify immediately following this shit-show. :barf

[brooklyn1550]

Can you say payoff?

[DamonD]

Think it's a bit of a "I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine" kinda favour? Someone's pulled a few strings?

Holyfield's leapfrogged a lot of guys ahead of him in the WBO rankings to be awarded this shot, without beating anyone in their top 15...

[Bazooka]

This is the second of August, and the fight is mid October. And instead of giving a bit of time to see if Chagaev can get over this stomach ailment, and at the very least, them postpone the long awaited unifiying fight, they sock Holyfield in there faster than you can say well f*ck me running.

After all the hype and bragging over finally putting together the first unifying fight in 8 years, and how much heavyweight boxing needed it, don't you think they were extremely quick in calling it off, when the fight is still so far off? I don't even think that Chag's training has started, cause the fight is still about 11 weeks away, yet they call it off immediately.

:blood

I think there is something else that has happened. The stomach ailment don't sound like reason to stop a fight this long before the date, especially after all the hoopla over finally setting this long awaited fight up.

This more than likely has to do with the fact of public intrest, nobody was blowing up the boards about this fight so more than likely it would have been a huge Flop in terms of money.
Put Holyfield in there and look at the forums, its a bigger fight and people tune in, that is the nature of the sport, put asses in the seats and sell PPV hook ups.

[Bazooka]

Think it's a bit of a "I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine" kinda favour? Someone's pulled a few strings?

Holyfield's leapfrogged a lot of guys ahead of him in the WBO rankings to be awarded this shot, without beating anyone in their top 15...

When he fought Oquendo, Fres at that time was ranked #13

[Odo]

This is the second of August, and the fight is mid October. And instead of giving a bit of time to see if Chagaev can get over this stomach ailment, and at the very least, them postpone the long awaited unifiying fight, they sock Holyfield in there faster than you can say well f*ck me running.

After all the hype and bragging over finally putting together the first unifying fight in 8 years, and how much heavyweight boxing needed it, don't you think they were extremely quick in calling it off, when the fight is still so far off? I don't even think that Chag's training has started, cause the fight is still about 11 weeks away, yet they call it off immediately.

:blood

I think there is something else that has happened. The stomach ailment don't sound like reason to stop a fight this long before the date, especially after all the hoopla over finally setting this long awaited fight up.


Stomach ailment? Sounds fishy indeed!

Who knows? He may have received an offer to face Wlad,or an financially attractive offer to fight Valuev in a rematch.

Damn! I would have bet my money on Chagaev against the slightly overrated Sultan Ibragimov.

[Scar]

You make it sound like he's set to go to a birthday party and can "wait" to see if the illness isn't as serious as they probably think then they'll cancel. He's set to fight in a championship boxing FIGHT and can get killed in there if he isn't above 100%.

[DamonD]

But it's about 2 and a half months off. They can't afford even a few extra days at this point in time? It's not like it's due in a fortnight or something.
I appreciate needing to be 100% but this is quite a way out...

I would be interested in hearing from Chagaev about all this.

[Unforgiven]

Well, a pay off might be what happened.
Holyfield's camp bought Chagaev to step aside.

Then again, nobody really knows.
Chagaev might be actually seriously sick, or he might have developed alcoholism or a heroin addiction, or he just found God , or just found out he's a woman trapped in a man's body. :lol:

There's a load of reasons that might cause a guy to pull out of a fight.

[KO byBRIGGS]

You make it sound like he's set to go to a birthday party and can "wait" to see if the illness isn't as serious as they probably think then they'll cancel. He's set to fight in a championship boxing FIGHT and can get killed in there if he isn't above 100%.You wouldnt be saying that if it was Briggs that pulled out. This is rediculous Chagaev has lost all credit and should be stripped of his title.

[Sputnik44]

Stomach Ailment? to reference Baseball that's the reason Jason Giambi missed an entire season with the Yankees his intestinal parasite and stomach ailments kept him off the roster for most of the season while he deflated from Steroids...

[Sputnik44]

Stomach Ailment? to reference Baseball that's the reason Jason Giambi missed an entire season with the Yankees his intestinal parasite and stomach ailments kept him off the roster for most of the season while he deflated from Steroids...

[Rock0052]

Probably a pay off to get Holyfield in position.

That's the exact same thing I mentioned in the other thread about this. If anything, Ruslan's got a hernia from hauling around the cash he's getting for not taking this fight.

[RUSKULL]

You make it sound like he's set to go to a birthday party and can "wait" to see if the illness isn't as serious as they probably think then they'll cancel. He's set to fight in a championship boxing FIGHT and can get killed in there if he isn't above 100%.

Oh please. :patsch

They should've fought Wladimir for unification then, or at least picked someone ranked in their own top 5 or so.

It reeks of a payoff.......................& adds another black eye to boxing.

[The Italarican]

I'm not into conspiracy theories, but something is off here.

[Motor City Sam]

Can you say payoff?

I hate to accuse someone of that, but I'm thinking the same thing this time, Brooklyn. Either that, or Ruslan has a much more serious ailment than is being disclosed.

[RUSKULL]

I hate to accuse someone of that, but I'm thinking the same thing this time, Brooklyn. Either that, or Ruslan has a much more serious ailment than is being disclosed.

Even if Ruslan had some major ailment, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON WHY SULTAN SHOULDN'T FIGHT WLADIMIR INSTEAD OF HOLYFIELD!!! It would still be a unification fight and it would draw very well in Russia, Germany or even the US. No excuse except M-O-N-E-Y!

[Rock0052]

This is how it works: Pay Ruslan to not raise hell about it, and then pay the WBO to put him first in line, and disguise the payoff as a sanctioning fee. It probably wouldn't have taken more than a few phonecalls to pull off.

[Motor City Sam]

Even if Ruslan had some major ailment, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON WHY SULTAN SHOULDN'T FIGHT WLADIMIR INSTEAD OF HOLYFIELD!!! It would still be a unification fight and it would draw very well in Russia, Germany or even the US. No excuse except M-O-N-E-Y!

I don't disagree. I think Wlad would crush Sultan, but a unification bout would be preferable to the Holy/Sultan matchup.

[Bazooka]

No excuse except M-O-N-E-Y!

That is what these guys are fighting for in the first place besides a fight with Holyfield is a much better fight than a fight with Austin

[RUSKULL]

That is what these guys are fighting for in the first place besides a fight with Holyfield is a much better fight than a fight with Austin

Sultan "Yellow Belly" Ibragimov fought to a draw vs. Austin & Wladimir KO'd Austin in 2 rounds, without even using his right hand!

What was your point again? :D

Man, you're too easy...............................get lost, adults are talking here.

[RUSKULL]

BTW Bazooka, Austin was Wlad's mandatory defense.

I seem to have missed your point yet you highlighted mine. Well done! :rofl

[RUSKULL]

This is how it works: Pay Ruslan to not raise hell about it, and then pay the WBO to put him first in line, and disguise the payoff as a sanctioning fee. It probably wouldn't have taken more than a few phonecalls to pull off.


Pathetic isn't it?! :verysad

[Bazooka]

BTW Bazooka, Austin was Wlad's mandatory defense.

I seem to have missed your point yet you highlighted mine. Well done! :rofl

Though that is the truth, you and I both know (this is if your really an adult) that Austin wasnt shit from the get.

and who cares what Wlad did with Austin anyways, sooner or later your going to realize that the world doesnt revolve around the Klits, it might take you a little longer to see that though.

You cant force a unification, so stop crying if Wlad wants to unify there are other belt holders out there he can do that with as well.
Either way I aint bitching about this fight, IMO I would rather Holyfield get it out of the way so he can either A: Prove everybody wrong again or B: get his ass handed to him so he has no other choice but to retire.
this is a good thing for Boxing, I dont want to see Holyfield hurt in there, but if its going to happen its going to happen, I would rather him get it over with already.

You know Vitali can do a few things himself, He can step up and take that Rahman fight he out right Avoided or he can fight Byrd again.
Wlad he has options to, he can rematch Sanders and avenge that loss, he can also dig up Purritty and pull that cat out of the bag.
I mean after all they have been consistant in fighting dead men, so let them keep doing so.

Boxing does not revolve around these fuckers like it or not.

[RUSKULL]

Though that is the truth, you and I both know (this is if your really an adult) that Austin wasnt shit from the get.

and who cares what Wlad did with Austin anyways, sooner or later your going to realize that the world doesnt revolve around the Klits, it might take you a little longer to see that though.

You cant force a unification, so stop crying if Wlad wants to unify there are other belt holders out there he can do that with as well.
Either way I aint bitching about this fight, IMO I would rather Holyfield get it out of the way so he can either A: Prove everybody wrong again or B: get his ass handed to him so he has no other choice but to retire.
this is a good thing for Boxing, I dont want to see Holyfield hurt in there, but if its going to happen its going to happen, I would rather him get it over with already.

You know Vitali can do a few things himself, He can step up and take that Rahman fight he out right Avoided or he can fight Byrd again.
Wlad he has options to, he can rematch Sanders and avenge that loss, he can also dig up Purritty and pull that cat out of the bag.
I mean after all they have been consistant in fighting dead men, so let them keep doing so.

Boxing does not revolve around these fuckers like it or not.

That's all you've got? And look how many words you needed to get that pathetic point across :patsch

No, the boxing world doesn't revolve around any fighters, just don't tell Mayfeather or Oscar. :yep

The point is TRUE boxing fans wanted to see unification finally happen and now that's all shot to shit.

Oh, that and WHY THE FUCK ISN'T SULTAN SEEKING UNIFICATION AGAINST WLADIMIR instead of a money grab vs. Holyfield? It was only okay for Wlad to defend against Holy because he had few other options with the WBC/Maskaev/Peter/Vitali/McCall bullshit. The WBC has their HW belt tied up for the next 2 years at least thanks to that idiot Suliaman...........

There are only 4 belts that matter:

Wladimir has 1, Sultan & Ruslan were going to unify their WBO & WBA belts and the WBC is practically an invisible entity at this point. :-(

[Brickhaus]

I suspect Chagaev really is sick, and that the problem with postponing is that his mandatory would be due too soon after the fight if he was to postpone.

Either way, I can't imagine it was Holyfield paying step-aside money. If that was the case, then Holyfield would have just made a huge offer to Ibragamov to begin with to fight in the US instead of in Moscow.

[Zakman]

Then again, nobody really knows.
Chagaev might be actually seriously sick, or he might have developed alcoholism or a heroin addiction, or he just found God , or just found out he's a woman trapped in a man's body. :lol:

There's a load of reasons that might cause a guy to pull out of a fight.

:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl

I've been following boxing a LONG time, and those are some of the more inventive excuses I've heard offered for why someone might pull out of a fight. It even beats some of Tyson's in the early 90s!:lol::good

[Rock0052]

:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl

I've been following boxing a LONG time, and those are some of the more inventive excuses I've heard offered for why someone might pull out of a fight. It even beats some of Tyson's in the early 90s!:lol::good

No kidding :lol:, and all this time I just thought it was indigestion from Ruslan eating Sultan's children.

[Heavyrighthand]

This more than likely has to do with the fact of public intrest, nobody was blowing up the boards about this fight so more than likely it would have been a huge Flop in terms of money.
Put Holyfield in there and look at the forums, its a bigger fight and people tune in, that is the nature of the sport, put asses in the seats and sell PPV hook ups.

I think that may be it.

While the diehard boxing fans on message boards like this one was fully behind it, and excited to see it, to the boxing audience as a whole, it didn't look like the long awaited unification fight was getting the attention of praise that it should have. Praise and attention it SHOULD have gotten, seeing as how its so needed and long overdue.

But while that fight didn't seem to set the world on fire, maybe Chagaev will mysteriously start to get over his ailiment in a couple months and announce a fight with another titleholder. Either that, or maybe Holy will win the WBo title and then set up a fight with another titleholder. I think Holy winning would make a unification fight likely, as he wants to do what he can do, and do it fast, being 45, and ticking.

[Heavyrighthand]

Also, look up the recent ESB article where Sultan said he was out to get complete unification, and would want Wladimir after Chagaev.

That's claim is rather funny, after this latest turn of events, and knowing that Wladimir is free and without a fight.

That said, I don't think Holy fighting for a mere WBO title will be the big money maker that some seem to think it'll be.

I may be wrong, but I don't think Holy has raised his crediblity enough yet to be a big PPV draw with the boxing fans, and this is for the mere WBO title, which is the least of four.

[Rock0052]

This should open the door for a Chagaev-Wlad match in November or early December (depending on how long this "ailment" persists) if Ruslan's still serious about unification.

If that's how it shakes out, it won't be so bad- and hey, if Holy wins and Wlad does fight Ruslan, then we'd be closer to having the first unified HW champ in awhile since then that would be the only real fight to make in the division while the Peter-Maskaev-Vitali thing gets sorted out.

[theunderdog]

just when we all thought that the ehavies are getting their act together. this happens. damn