5 Heavyweight Fights I Want to See That Don't Involve a Klitschko

In the post-Lennox Lewis era, the Klitschko brothers have established themselves as the two best heavyweight boxers of their generation, gigantic men who move nimbly and skillfully, if not explosively. But at this point I'm not sure either has a single fight left that would truly excite me.

I am not particularly excited about Wladimir Klitschko's scheduled fight against Frenchman Jean Marc Mormeck, scheduled for December. With a professional record of 36(22)-4, Mormeck is 39-years-old, less than 6' tall and has fought the majority of his career at light heavyweight and cruiser. 

And by the way: Mormeck was stopped in seven rounds by David Haye at cruiserweight in 2007. If Wladimir finds himself once again shut out of the American television market with this fight, he has only himself to blame. 

Meanwhile, following his impressive dismantling of Tomasz Adamek, it now appears depressingly likely that Vitali might next fight David Haye! The only reason I can see for making this fight is that Vitali is disgusted that kid brother Wladi failed to knock out the trash-talking Haye last June.

But no serious boxing fan or commentator who watched Haye's embarrassing performance en route to a unanimous decision loss in that fight could possibly have much interest in seeing the mouthy Brit next challenge big brother Vitali, widely believed to be the more dangerous of the two.

At 40 years old, Vitali will be retiring very soon, possibly to focus on a political career. 35-year-old Waldimir, with little left to accomplish professionally, might not be around much longer himself. There will be a life in the heavyweight division after the Klitschkos.

And a lot of the fights that might influence that future heavyweight division could be happening right now. These fights could showcase some of the top up-and-coming heavyweights and create a clearer picture of where everybody else stacks up behind the Klitschkos moving forward.  

David Haye vs. Denis Boytsov

Denis Boytsov is a Russian fighting out of Hamburg, Germany. He has a professional record of 27-0 with 22 knockouts. He is currently ranked No. 8 by The Ring, but his quality of opposition has not been particularly impressive.

He has not fought anybody with the athletic ability of Haye. But I would maintain that Haye has not fought a heavyweight, outside of Klitschko, with Boytsov's overall skill set.

At 6'1" and about 220 pounds, Boytsov is not a very large heavyweight, but he is sturdy and technically very sound. He is trained by the legendary East German trainer Fritz Sdunek (a former Klitschko coach) and pretty much every aspect of his game is very solid. He counterpunches well, has excellent head-and-shoulder movement and fluid footwork.

Due to the dominance of his run at cruiserweight, and his marketability, I was fine with Haye getting fast-tracked into his fight with Wladimir Klitschko. But after the way he performed in that fight, I am very skeptical of his continued place within the Top Five Ring ranking at heavyweight. I feel that a rugged and skilled boxer like Boytsov might very well further expose him as too technically incomplete to be a serious factor within the division. 

In my mind, he needs to prove himself against another Top 10 guy before he deserves the kind of attention (and payday) he would get for fighting the older Klitschko brother.  

The Winner of Eddie Chambers/Tony Thompson vs Antonio Tarver

Eddie Chambers and Tony Thompson are scheduled to fight on October 28. There has been some talk that the winner might get a fight against one of the Klitschkos. Since they have both already lost to Wladimir, one would assume that this would mean the winner gets Vitali. 

The thing is, I have yet to see or read anything that indicates Vitali Klitschko has any interest all at in fighting the winner of this matchup. I can't remember seeing either mentioned as a possible opponent for Vitali. 

The 41-year-old Tarver moved up to heavyweight about a year ago, with a lot of talk about challenging the Klitschkos and Haye. But since then the former light heavyweight champion has moved back down to fight cruiserweight, where he dispatched Danny Green last July.

If he is still interested in moving back to heavyweight, the winner of Chambers/Thompson would line up very well for the spring or early summer of 2012, giving Tarver a chance to prove that he is legit as a force at heavyweight. 

Seth Mitchell vs Tyson Fury

28-year-old Seth Mitchell is perhaps the most intriguing American prospect in the heavyweight division. He is a former Division 1 stand-out linebacker for Michigan State, and although he did not start boxing until he had finished college, he is already 23-0 with 17 knockouts.

Mitchell is a big heavyweight, a very solid 240+ pounds. He has very quick hands for a big man, and very good footwork, especially when you consider his relative inexperience.

He has had a distinct athletic advantage over everybody he has fought, but he has nevertheless displayed solid boxing fundamentals, using reach and footwork to maintain distance and set up punches from outside, while also at times using his bulk to bully opponents in close.

Mitchell is signed with Golden Boy and clearly some people see potential. It is time for him to step up in competition.

23-year-old Tyson Fury holds the British Heavyweight and Commonwealth Heavyweight Championships. The Manchester, England native and descendant of Irish Travelers stands 6'9" tall and has a perfect 16-0 professional record. Before turning pro he put together an impressive amateur resume.

Fury is nowhere near the naturally gifted athlete that Mitchell is, but his height and reach are substantial physical gifts in their own right, and Fury has the skill to employ them.

These are two of the up-and-coming prospects who might have a chance to make a run during the coming post-Klitschko era. I'd mark my calender and tune in early to see these two test themselves against each other.

Robert Hellenius vs Chris Arreola

During the recent Vitali Klitschko-Thomasz Adamek fight, Max Kellerman identified Robert Hellenius as the one man in the heavyweight division who he thought might have a chance to beat the Klitschkos. 

I am not ready to buy on that proposition at this point, but I can see where Kellerman is coming from. The 27-year-old Finn has the size and athletic ability to compete with the Klitschkos. But it is hard for me to accept that a boxer 16 fights into his career has the experience to match up with either of the Ukranian brothers. 

I think Chris Arreola would be an excellent measuring stick for him. If he can't beat the popular Mexican-American heavyweight by at least a fairly one-sided decision, most people will feel that he is still not ready to get in the ring against the Klitschkos. 

On the other hand, Hellenius would be a very good opponent for Arreola to prove that his new, slimmed-down physique is going to be enough to propel him to the championship level. 

Tomasz Adamek vs Alexander Povetkin

Last month Alexander Povetkin beat Ruslan Chagaev for the vacant WBA world heavyweight title. The way the WBA title became vacant is the sort of absurd dog-and-pony show that could only happen in boxing.

Wladimir Klitschko had been the WBA title holder, but the WBA decided to make him their "super" world champion, which apparently meant that he had to vacate the "regular" world title. So now there are two WBA world heavyweight champions, the regular one and the "super" one.

So by some sort of standard Povetkin is now a world champion, albeit, not a "super" one.

With Adamek now dispatched, the Teddy Atlas-trained Povetkin would seem to move up the ladder for the next shot at one of the Klitschko brothers.

But Teddy Atlas might still feel that his protege isn't ready for that kind of match up. Povetkin is not much bigger than Adamek, and it's hard to see a fight between him and Vitali or Wladimir not playing out very much the same.

On the other hand, a fight with Adamek would be an evenly matched war. I'll be honest that I'm not sure what this fight does for either man's career, but it's just a matchup I would love to see. Both men have good fanbases in the Northern New Jersey/New York metro area and I can see this as a great Atlantic City fight.