(Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
Much has been written about what many consider a curious decision by HBO in refusing to televise the Wladimir Klitschko-Ruslan Chagaev bout scheduled for Jun. 20.
Chagaev, a late substitute for David Haye, is an undefeated fellow titleholder of sorts (a champion in recess according to the lunatic fringe of the WBA), and is thought to be a notch above most heavyweight contenders.
In addition, it has been pointed out that HBO had no qualms about televising Klitschko versus Hasim Rahman, Ray Austin, and even an unproven David Haye.
But according to Steve Kim at Maxboxing.com, the HBO boxing budget is nearly bust for the year.
Passing up the Klitschko-Chagaev bout makes financial sense, but the truth may be even murkier than that. Conspiracy theorists should take note.
Its economic woes notwithstanding, the real reason HBO put the kibosh on Chagaev is the diabolical machinations of Sultan Ibragimov.
Yes, from his home in Russia, thousands of miles away from HBO corporate headquarters, Ibragimov is a powerful sub-rosa force behind the scenes of this unholy Klitschko-Haye-Chagaev-HBO affair.
And, like a plot device out of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, he probably has no idea that he is an agent of sabotage.
Like Ibragimov, Chagaev is a shifty southpaw from a former Soviet Bloc nation. Like Ibragimov, Chagaev is a decorated amateur.
Both fighters are also on the small side for heavyweights and neither one can be said to be a puncher.
It is these ominous similarities that put HBO on red alert.
When Ibragimov, no doubt working undercover for years, went twelve unmercifully dull rounds with Klitschko in Madison Square Garden in February 2008, Chagaev was, in a strange time-warp reaction worthy of Philip K. Dick, effectively eliminated from fighting on HBO over a year before he had the possibility of doing so.
Among the slew of monotonous bouts Klitschko has engaged in over the years, his fandango with Ibragomiv was by far the worst.
With pulls in height, weight, and reach, Klitschko, cautious as usual, decided to spend the early rounds playing some variation of an obscure playground game that called for the Ukrainian to tap his gloves with those of Ibragimov repetitively.
Not nearly as interesting as Duck, Duck, Goose or hopscotch, Klitschko and Ibragimov left thousands of spectators at the Garden collectively hypnotized.
When the final bell rang, the crowd snapped out of its reverie and booed in unison.
No doubt: Ibragimov was working as a sleeper agent in this capacity.
For HBO, a fight with Chagaev would have meant another event that looked rickety from afar.
Klitschko has been in the ring under strange—albeit, usually uneventful—circumstances with a regularity that may have finally left HBO gun-shy.
Too many of his fights have arrived with giant pre-fab asterisks attached.
Lamon Brewster was coming off of multiple eye surgeries and was, in fact, suspended in the United States when he faced Klitschko in an antic-climactic rematch in Germany; Hasim Rahman was so jaded and without ambition that it surprised many when he made it up the ringside steps; Chris Byrd had already been thrashed by Klitschko in a near-shutout waltz in 2000; and Ray Austin had no more right to challenge for the heavyweight title than the average secret shopper does.
HBO is wise not to risk another farce.
Whatever the truth about the disputed medical issues that originally nixed his bout with Nikolay Valuev in Finland last month, Chagaev is another walking X-factor.
As injury and accident prone as Inspector Clouseau, Chagaev has fought only three times since November 2006, and in his last fight he suffered a nasty cut against anonymous Alphabet Group ward Carl Drummond.
Chagaev has not scored a knockout in his last four bouts, and, at 6’1”, is even smaller than Ibragimov.
He has serious disadvantages in height and reach against Klitschko, and without the power to knock out class “A” opponents, he does not even have blind chance on his side.
Still, if not for the unholy specter of Ibragomiv and Klitschko playing Rock, Paper, Scissors in 2008, this fight might have had a chance to be aired on HBO.
Chagaev has only Sultan Ibragimov, master saboteur, to blame for his misfortune.
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