Wladimir Klitschko Scheduled To Fight Sultan Ibragimov on Sat. February 23rd

*This is from a post I did on my Squidoo Lens @ http://www.squidoo.com/wladimirklitschko

This is the 1st title unification since 1999, although its not encompassing all four of the main sanctioning bodies it is involving the IBF, which is held by Wladimir, and WBO, which is held by Sultan Ibragimov, belts. It should also be noted that Wladimir Klitschko also carries the IBO strap although it isn't considered amongst the big 4 sanctioning bodies.

I feel the physical advantage is definitely going to Wladimir since hes over 5 inches taller than his opponent along with his reach advantage. Hes also weighs more than Ibragimov and hes a lean 243-250 pound guy whereas Ibragimov is a little softer at his weight. So when you take that into consideration it makes the weight advantage even greater.

Now as far as experience, again Wladimir wins hands down. They both share an Olympic medal, but Wladimir has a Gold in 1996 in the SuperHeavyweight Division, while Ibragimov a Silver in the 2000 Olympics in the Heavyweight Division. Wladimir has had 52 fights as a professional whereas Sultan Ibragimov has had less than half as many at 23 total fights.

The quality of oppostion also goes to Wladimir. Wladimir has fought Francois Botha, Lamon Brewster, Chris Byrd, Calvin Brock, Lance Whitaker, Monte Barrett, Charles Shufford, Jameel McCline and Samuel Peter as his main opposition and Sultan has fought Evander Holyfield, Shannon Briggs, and Lance Whitaker.

I would say the speed and variety of boxing skills would go to Ibragimov, but it should be noted that the things that Wladimir does do (jab, cross, & left hook mainly) he does exceptionally well and because of this I'd even say that Wladimir has BETTER boxing skills than Ibragimov and the speed isn't that far behind. I dont' think Wladimir has as good of a "inside game" as Ibragimov but then again he doesn't necessarily need it because of physical and clinching abilities.

As far as power and stregnth this would also go to Wladimir. Besides being physcially big Wladimir also has plenty of explosive power.

In my opinion this fight will go about 6 rounds with a TKO win for Wladimir. I say this because Wladimir is going to respect Sultan but will eventually catch up to him around round 4 or 5 and since Sultan wants to win so badly he'll continue to fight even if he shouldn't and thus the TKO.

The fight will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on February 23rd, and you can call these numbers for tickets: (917) 939-5199 (212) 465-MSG1

Good luck to Wladimir on his upcoming fight!