Ruslan Chagaev vs. Kali Meehan

Ruslan Chagaev 231 lbs beat Kali Meehan 230 lbs by UD in round 12 of 12

• Date: 2010-05-22
• Location: Stadthalle, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
• Referee: Luis Pabon
• Judge: Terry O'Connor 117-111
• Judge: Ove Ovesen 117-112
• Judge: Ted Gimza 118-110

Notes

• The fight averaged 3.1 million viewers on ZDF, generating 17.6 market share.

Hit and hit, but did not break

By Anton Horyunov, Ring, May 22, 2010

The fact that as a boxer Meehan has nothing on Chagaev was clear even without this fight. The events that occurred within the German ring during 36 minutes of an uneven confrontation only confirmed the complete and utter superiority of Ruslan - the only surprise was that the Australian managed to hold on until the final gong.

The first round did not show any warning signs for Kali. Taking advantage of his superior size, he kept a suitable distance with his jab, but this was only until Chagaev found a loophole in Meehan's flimsy defensive redoubts. And it happened very soon: already in the second round, Ruslan twice stunned the opponent with sweeping left hooks.

Feeling the power of the powder charge hidden in Chagaev's fists, Meehan noticeably slowed down offensively and subsequently fought clearly cautiously, thinking three times before going forward. Moreover, Ruslan got confident delivering weighty punches on the target, increasingly forcing the former rugby player to think about the correctness of changing his craft.

Kali didn't care about the accuracy or force of blows, shooting back with weak shots from both hands whenever possible. Chagaev reacted to this in exactly the same way as a lamppost to a drunkard propping him up. That is, not at all.

Ruslan's advantage did not raise any questions or doubts, and the opponent's awful defense, which amounted to a punchless retreat back in a straight line behind a weak block, suggested that one of Chagaev's blows would definitely shake the big Australian, after which the signing of a finish inside the distance would remain a matter of technique.

But Meehan, despite Ruslan's frequent accented hits, to everyone's surprise, did not want to fall. However, Chagaev also helped him in this, after a successful attack he invariably attempted to close range, where Kali happily tied him up.

In the second half of the fight, fatigue gradually began to affect Chagaev, while the noticeably emboldened Meehan, on the contrary, gained a little confidence and began to throw more punches. Nevertheless, the scales still leaned towards Ruslan, who, although less often, still continued to bombard the opponent's head.

In the final rounds, when Chagaev's stamina finally started malfunctioning, the fight became more even, but this could hardly satisfy Kali, who needed only a knockout to win. In the final round, he tried to simply catch Ruslan with an unprepared power punch, but he did not achieve any success.

118-110, 117-111 and 117-112 - with a score that was close to the truth, the judges unanimously awarded the victory to Chagaev, who is now the official contender for the title that belongs to David Haye. The chance to return the championship title may be presented to Ruslan already this year, but only on the condition that Haye fails to agree on a fight with one of the Klitschko brothers.[1]