Top 10 Heavyweights: September Through November
IBF Heavyweight champion
(46-3 41KO)
Last fight: April 22, 2006, stopped previously crowned Chris Byrd via TKO 7th round.
His last fight was by far the most impressive, a seventh round domination over Chris Byrd in his native homeland of Germany. It was a matchup Byrd himself wasn’t sure of accepting but with little option in choice of opponents he had no choice. Without question, he’s the most skillful amongst the current competition. Long arms, fast, good footwork, left hooks and straight right hands are his best arsenal. He faces Calvin Brock in November, a matchup that many are waiting to see with the question being posed: Was it Klitschko at his best against a relatively smaller Byrd?
#2 Sam Peter
#1 Mandatory challenger for the WBC heavyweight championship.
(27-1 22KOs)
Last fight: September 2, 2006, defeated James Toney via 12 round split decision.
Yes, Peter is ranked number two according to this chart and you will find out why. He isn’t the most skilled or flashiest amongst the group; often plodding along one step at a time looking for the big bomb. Who can deal with Peter’s punching power? Not many and if one, please name them. He steam rolled James Toney in a narrow decision, landing more punches than many observing thought possible. The Nigerian nightmare as of right now is second best at heavyweight. With so much potential to be better, Peter remains just a few fundamentals away from being on top of his game.
#3 Calvin Brock
Challenger for IBF heavyweight champion in November.
(29-0 22KOs)
Last fight: Defeated Timor Ibragimov inside of 12 rounds.
Give the guy a break it was hot that day! Imagine fighting outdoors in the sweltering heat, under bright lights for ten or twelve rounds. That’s what Brock did, defending his undefeated record outdoors at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It wasn’t the most exciting twelve rounds, and he ate a lot of criticism for that fight. He still deserves a place amongst the higher rankings for his arrival at twenty-nine consecutive victories with twenty-two by knockout. He lays a step short of Peter, due to the lack of marquee chapters in his storybook.
#4 Nikolay Valuev
WBA Heavyweight champion
(44-0 32KOs)
Last fight: Decked the halls by dropping Owen Beck via 3rd round KO.
You can be seven foot tall with forty-four victories all you want too, but if you don’t have the star quality resume the employer will just go for somebody else. That isn’t a knock of integrity to undefeated Valuev, but he hasn’t been tested and is still relatively unknown. Known primarily as, “The seven foot dude who beat Ruiz,” Valuev is the largest heavyweight and the most anticipated competitor since no one has heard of him until his forty-third bout. In a heavyweight division where champions can easily turn into “title holders,” Valuev has a date with destiny set for October.
#5 Oleg Maskaev
WBC Heavyweight champion
(33-5 26KOs)
Last fight: Stopped Hasim Rahman’s American dream by knocking him out in the final round.
“Belts don’t make fighters, fighters make belts,” I remembered the interview featuring Floyd Mayweather Jr. Maskaev was virtually down on points and close to losing the fight against Rahman on August 12, 2006. In stunning fashion he stopped Rahman just four rounds further north of the eighth round knockout he gave to Hasim in 1999. Sam Peter is his mandatory opponent, a matchup which Oleg must’ve cringed at after watching Peter-Toney on September 2nd, 2006. Rumor has it that Maskaev isn’t going to make Peter his next fight but is looking in other directions. Defeating Hasim Rahman for a second time is a highlighted bullet on his silver resume. Yet, it’s not something that’s difficult to accomplish these days.
Good luck to him in his next matchup.
#6 Serguei Lyakhovich
WBO Heavyweight champion
(23-1 14KOs)
Last fight: Made the biggest fool out of us all by destroying Lamon Brewster on April 1, 2006.
Lyakhovich’s victory over Brewster was symbolic of what we needed in the heavyweight division. He pummeled Brewster on that night in Cleveland, and he deserves props for it. On Saturday November 4th, 2006, Lyakhovich takes on Shannon Briggs, a fight most likely to be aired on Showtime Network Television.
#7 James Toney
(69-5-3 43KOs)
Last fight: Lost a 12 round split decision to Sam Peter on September 2, 2006.
The loss to Toney was devastating in a sense, dropping his ranking just a little lower than many might have expected. This doesn’t label Peter as a bad fighter, nor does it throw Toney all that far out of the loop. However, with other heavyweight names and matchups appearing on screen at the moment, it kicks James out of the picture momentarily. This has the equivalency of a below average midterm grade in college; there’s still a chance to make it, but you got to go to work from this point. We can all agree with Dan Rafael of ESPN citing that a Byrd-Toney showdown is the best way to go for both fighters.
#8 Chris Byrd
(39-3-1 20KOs)
Last fight: Loss a 7th round TKO to Wladimir Klitschko.
This would be the perfect opportunity for both Chris Byrd and James Toney to ever get together. Not to mention, a victory for either man could easily catapult both back on the road to a title hunt. In his efforts against Klitschko, Byrd just faced a man who was much bigger, stronger and had a better game plan. The loss doesn’t point out Byrd as being a bad fighter, nor does it point that he’s finished. The loss to Klitschko should be thought of as more of a lesson; illustrating that as a naturally smaller heavyweight, Byrd has to be as swift as a Bird and not look to satisfy the crowds who won’t respect him no matter how hard he tries.
#9 Hasim Rahman
(41-6-2 33KOs)
Last fight: Loss by knockout in the final round against Oleg Maskaev in August.
Rock has probably taken the hardest fall as of all the previously title-owned champions of the last year. In a matchup regarded as, “America’s last line of defense,” it was an effort by Bob Arum used to sell Rahman as the “real” heavyweight champion of the world. Thus, adding more of a promise on Hasim’s back then he could live up to. Then when he went out and loss to Rahman, it stripped the title of the entire Pay Per View. We don’t know when we’ll see Rahman near another title, but we wish him the best. Right folks?
#10 Lamon Brewster
(33-3 29KOs)
Last fight: Loss 12 round decision to Serguei Lyakhovich.
His heart can bring him back, hopefully emerging him back into title contention. Brewster is a tough son of a gun, and he proved it in his matchup with Lyakhovich. The injuries suffered in his matchup with Serguei have Lamon sidelined for possibly the rest of this year. It’s better to say that we’ll see him hopefully by early next year and ready to make a move in the heavyweight division.
Mark your calendar AC:
October 7th – Monte Barrett vs. Nikolay Valuev
November 4th – Shannon Briggs vs. Serguei Lyakhovich
November 11th – Calvin Brock vs. Wladimir Klitschko
