Jason Estrada and Ruslan Chagaev: Looking to Make Their Mark
 By Julian Kasdin (Nov 17, 2006)
This weekend the biggest fight is obviously the third one between Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao. That being said there are two fights that can possibly shape the future of the heavyweight division as unbeaten Jason ‘Big Six’ Estrada, 7-0 (1), takes on fellow undefeated heavy Travis Walker, 21-0-1 (17) on Shobox. The following night an even more important fight takes place as Ruslan ‘The White Tyson’ Chagaev, 21-0-1 (17), squares off against ‘The Quiet Man’ John Ruiz, 41-6-1 (28), for a shot at Nikolai Valuev’s WBA title.
Jason Estrada is quickly gaining notoriety among boxing fans for his willingness to take on tough competition early on. In his first seven fights he has not fought a single person with a record below five hundred, and he has wins over Robert Wiggins and Najee Shaheed, both of who had almost or more than thirty fights when Estrada fought them. I caught some flack early on for being such a big proponent of Estrada, many people did not think he looked the part, and many more thought the he did not have heart because of his performance in the Olympics. I instead saw a skilled fighter with the potential to become a bigger and stronger Chris Byrd, one of the most underrated fighters of the last twenty years. Estrada is supremely skilled for someone with only eight fights (he has one no contest). He understands defense better than most boxers with twenty or thirty fights do, and despite how he looks he is actually in quite good shape.
Now I have not mentioned Travis Walker once thus far, and that is not a sign of disrespect on my part. Travis was an accomplished amateur who has been very active since 2004. Despite having more professional fights than Estrada the truth is his competition is not better. He may have many more knockouts, but my feeling is that he is the underdog going
into this fight.
I think that Walker will be Estrada’s toughest fight to date, and for the first time Estrada will probably lose a round; that said, I feel he will win the fight. He has fought and dominated better opposition than Walker, and I feel he is the more complete boxer. Look for Estrada to win this fight via comfortable unanimous decision.
Next up is Ruslan Chagaev vs. John Ruiz. Chagaev was an accomplished amateur who sported a record of 82-3, and won the world amateur championship twice. As a professional he has a perfect record which is made all the better by his bone crunching power. Chagaev is a counter-puncher who can also be an offensive destroyer. That combined with his skill and solid chin make him one of the most dangerous contenders in the heavyweight division. He has scored some solid wins against such fighters as Michael Sprott, Asmir Vojnovic, Sherman Williams, Mark Krence, Rob Calloway and most important against the huge and formerly undefeated Vladimir Virchis. The Virchis fight is the one I feel that has propelled Chagaev to the front of the class as far as the young guns go. Chagaev is a massive man, 6’5” and 245-250, with an iron chin, a powerful, eighteen knockouts in twenty-one wins, and the stamina to go twelve. While the fight was close, Chagaev out boxed his massive foe, and was able to absorb Virchis power shots without flinching.
This weekend, against John Ruiz, he faces a different foe. Ruiz is not a pretty fighter, but he is effective. Ever since being destroyed by David Tua he has become a survival first fighter, and it is his goal to make you fight his fight. Ruiz is another underrated fighter of the last twenty years. He has wins against Andrew Golota, Hasim Rahman, Evander Holyfield and Fres Oquendo to name a few. His jab and grab style, actually perfected by Henry Akinwande, is tedious to watch and probably even more annoying to his foes. Against Chagaev his goal will be to smother the stronger man’s power by, once again, jabbing and grabbing.
I do not think the jab and grab will work this weekend. Ruslan Chagaev is not really ‘The White Tyson’ as his name implies. He is a bigger more skilled version of Tua who fights from the southpaw stance. Look for him to either catch Ruiz with his signature big left as he is coming in, or to come over the top with hooks. While Ruiz might trouble Chagaev at first, I think Chagaev’s skill, power, and greater physical strength will be the deciding factors. I can almost see it, look for this fight to be stopped when Chagaev lands a left hand in the first five rounds and then follows it up with another one to get the KO win over John Ruiz.
As a side note last week Jim Lampley said there really are not many heavyweight contenders under the age of thirty, and that Sam Peter is the only one. I would like to point out that Jason Estrada is only 25 years old, and that Ruslan Chagaev is only 28. Along with these we have Alexander Dimitrenko at 24, Oleg Platov at 23, Eddie Chambers at 24 and Alexander Povetkin at 27. There are more, but I think everyone gets the point. Just because the networks are in love with Samuel Peter does not mean he is the only name in town. Honestly he is not the best name either. There are a lot of young talented heavies out there; they just need to be acknowledged more often.
|
|
|
|
© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2006
|
|
|
