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cant believe this is the route that valuev has chosen, it stinks so much of trying to manipulate his fights to surpass the record of the great rocky marciano.

big time is no longer a contender, he has tried and failed, im not saying he cant beat valuev because the beast is ordinary to say the least.

but i just feel the whole charade is a manipulation of the public.

Yes the heavyweight champs should be trying to unify and Valuev hasn't picked the most dangerous guys in the world so far but McCline isn't that much worse than the crap filling the top 10 at heavyweight. King wants the beast fighting yanks to boost his profile and McCline at least is a big fighter, I prefer this fight than seeing him drawf the likes of Barrett and Beck.

They may be moving Valuev along at the slowest pace ever but I still think a fight with Wlad will happen

I posted this on the current scene. Valuev's team may be looking for the wekest opponent, but in reality his options are limited anyway:

But then if you look at the WBA rankings (for October is the latest release) http://www.wbaonline.com/ratings/rankin ... ba1006.pdf the elligible opponents he and his team can pick from are actually pretty poor.

Take away 1+2 Ruiz& Chagaev, as their were fighting the eliminator (and Valuev will have to fight Chagaev next after McLine I'd imagine)

#3 is Austin - he is concentrating on the IBF, and is apparently Wlad's mandatory.
#4 Ibragimov - WBO mandatory
#5 Liakhovich - theoretically available
#6 Williamson - ditto
#7 Brewster - not a sqeak from him - still injured? Who knows
#8 Donald - ok, only beaten by an MD, but innactive since.
#9 Rahman
#10 Mollo
#11 Bidenko
#12 Virchis
#13 Dimitrenko
#14 McLine
#15 Bergeron.

Of the 15 possible opponents, 1,2,3&4 are unnavailable. 5,6,9,12&13 I'd say would, for one reason or another, not be in a position to take the fight, or simply wouldn't want to. I'd also add Donald as a non-starter. Say it's a duck if you like, but I just don't think a rematch with him is in many's best interests.

That leaves you Williamson, Mollo, Bidenko and Bergeron. Not a great list all told. Perhaps Williamson is the best of that lot, but contractual/promotional reasons may be just as easy a barrier from preventing that happening.

So I'd tentativly suggest that Valuev's reign as a world titlist be given a bit of slack. He will have to fight his mandatories, or be stripped. Better him being active imo than waiting 12 months for the WBA to come up with his mandatory. And it's not entirely his fault that his voluntaries are poor. Remember that at anyone time, there's probably half a dozen of the "top" heavies who'll be involved with other belts or eliminators.

Isn't McCline doing superfighter?

Yes, dissapointed that Valuev has chosen McCline, there are some more deserving fighters out there.
As for Rocky's record, i'm propably going to be shot down in flames for saying this, but is the record that impressive?
Rocky won the championship from Walcott who was 38 at the time, and at the end of a career, then Rocky defended his title against LaStarza who was ok, but not the best around at that time.
Next up was Ezzard Charles, who most were saying was a mismatch and had lost 2 of the 4 fights before his challenge. Of course he did put up stern challenges in both title fights, but still doesn't distract from the point of Ezzard not being the best challenger that could have been chosen at the time.
His last 2 challengers were Cockell and Moore. Don Cockell was a blown up light heavy , and Moore was a great light heavy , but not in Marciano's class as a heavyweight.

Max Molyneux wrote:Isn't McCline doing superfighter?

Superifghter is off, cancelled, kaput.

finger crossed wlad beats him first. Wlad will jab, right cross and run all night long on way to a UD.

Wales wrote:

Max Molyneux wrote:Isn't McCline doing superfighter?

Superifghter is off, cancelled, kaput.

Since when?

Max Molyneux wrote:

Wales wrote:

Max Molyneux wrote:Isn't McCline doing superfighter?

Superifghter is off, cancelled, kaput.

Since when?

Middle of Novermber it came out.

http://www.boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... perfighter
http://www.boxrec.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... perfighter

Well at least Cruiserweights won't be advertised as HW's yet.

This will surely be heaviest combine weight ever, right?

Holyfield deserves the shot above McCline.

I agree with the Boxing Monthly article on Valuev. Actually exposing him to the US market could be a huge mistake. It won't take long before they realise he is as bad as the rest of them.

The "mystique" factor is what intrigued the US market.

McCline has the power to test Valuev chin, if the pacifist will let his fist go.