Defending Wladimir Klitschko's Choice Of Rahman Over Povetkin

It seems like all over the internet a lot of people are complaining that former 2 time heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman is getting a shot at the heavyweight title again. Rahman is scheduled to face current WBO/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir "Steelhammer" Klitschko this December 13th as a replacement for the injured Alexander Povetkin.

Alexander Povetkin was guaranteed the IBF mandatory by winning a mini-tournament put together by the IBF organization where Povetkin defeated former heavyweight champion Chris Byrd and "Fast" Eddie Chambers to warrant his mandatory status.

So why are the vast majority of people complaining about Rahman getting a shot? Well mainly because they feel that Wladimir isn't trying to unify, or is purposely choosing a weak opponent when there are other greater fighters he could be fighting.

In Wladimir's defense, this will be his 3rd fight in less than a year. He plans on fighting in early 2009, so potentially 4 fights in a years time. That's very active for any heavyweight, and extremely active for a champion. What does this guy have to do? The sole reason he is taking this fight is because it satisfies his mandatory challenge through the IBF organization. Let's take a look at the current IBF heavyweight rankings:

CHAMPION Wladimir Klitschko Ukraine

1 Alexander Povetkin Russian Federation --------------------> out with injury
2 NOT RATED -----------------------------------------------------------> self explanatory here
3 Alexander Dimitrenko Ukraine -----------------------------------> Has fight with Luan Krasniqi on Nov 15th
4 Chris Arreola United States --------------------------------------> Has fight with Travis Walker on Nov 29th
5 Hasim Rahman United States -----------------------------------> Available opponent
6 Oleg Maskaev Kazakhstan
7 Sultan Ibragimov United States
8 Eddie Chambers United States
9 Andrew Golota United States
10 James Toney United States
11 Kali Meehan Australia
12 Sinan Samil Sam Turkey
13 Travis Walker United States
14 Cedric Boswell United States
15 Shane Cameron New Zealand

So, Wladimir is covered by the IBF by fighting the the 1st highest available opponent, which is Rahman. Wladimir spent a long time to earn these belts he just doesn't want to lose them especially since he is A) The most active champion out there as it is, B) Will make a lot of money off the Rahman fight, C) Will have a great name on his record, and D) revenge the negative talk Rahman gave his brother Vitali.

If your just talking fights I'd rather see. I'd rather see Wladimir fight Nicolai Valuev, but this fight with Rahman is to protect his IBF belt. He just fought his WBO mandatory not too long ago so by fighting Rahman he's covered from any mandatory obligations for a long while which means this opens him up to fight other guys as a voluntary defense including Valuev.

Tags: My Thoughts, upcoming fights, Wladimir Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko Opponents