Boxer Sultan Ibragimov
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Russia’s Ibragimov to Fight Briggs, Probably Klitschko
Sultan Ibragimov of Russia has been officially named to challenge WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs of the United States. The boxers are scheduled to meet in the ring March 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
One of the most experienced heavyweights in the world, Shannon Briggs, 35, first won the title November 4, once he knocked down Sergey Lyakhovich of Belarus in the 12th round.
In three days after that fight, World Boxing Organization (WBO) named Sultan Ibragimov of Russia the official challenger. Of interest is that Ibragimov was to fight in the match of the International Boxing Federation (IBF). But his match vs. Ray Austin ended in a dubious tie, so IBF had to urgently decide whether to repeat it and shelve naming the challenger or come up with some solution straight away.
Luckily, WBO had Ibragimov as the obvious number one in the rating. So, IBF preferred Austin and the Russian became the WBO challenger.
The bout of Briggs vs. Ibragimov will be broadcast by HBO, which intends to arrange the double header and show the fight of IBF champ Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine on the same day. Usually HBO comes up with a double header to bring the boxers together in the ring in the next move. So, Ibragimov will probably fight for two belts actually.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 26, 2006
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