Photo © Tatyana Makeyeva / AFP / Getty Images

We've been here before. But it's been a long, long time.

The last time the heavyweight division in boxing had a title unification bout, it was November 13, 1999, in the dank atmosphere of Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center, one of the world's worst boxing venues, and worst sports arenas in general. Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield had met exactly eight months earlier to initially declare a single heavyweight champion, but that infamous night at Madison Square Garden saw a draw declared, one of the worst scoring fiascos in boxing history. Even Muhammad Ali outright called the fight a fix.

It's been over eight years since we've seen two credited heavyweight titleholders square off against one another. The top selling albums that year? Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Shania Twain, N*SYNC and Ricky Martin. The deadly boring Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture at the Oscars that year, and Roberto Benigni was named Best Actor for Life is Beautiful.

It was a simpler time. An awful time, quite honestly.

Now, two heavyweight titlists head back to the Big Apple's most storied arena to go toe-to-toe for a couple of trinkets, the heavyweight division's first big step toward finally declaring an undisputed champion once more.

Don't get in a rush about it, though. With his dominant win over an out of shape, seemingly finished Sergei Liakhovich, 7-footer Nikolai Valuev has gotten himself a shot at WBA champ Ruslan Chagaev, who is, to date, the only man to topple Valuev. And the WBC title is finally going to be decided on March 8 in Mexico, when champ Oleg Maskaev fights interim titleholder Samuel Peter.

And after that? Vitali Klitschko may just actually make his way back into the ring to fight the winner.

In short, we're a long way away. But IBF/IBO champion Wladimir Klitschko and WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov fighting on Saturday night is a big deal nonetheless. It shows a willingness from both men to actually put their money where their mouths are, which is one giant leap for heavyweight boxing.

In all candor, American fans will largely perceive the Klitschko-Ibragimov fight to be for the heavyweight title. Klitschko is probably the world's best-known heavy, and Ibragimov got some American press for fighting and dominating 44-year old Evander Holyfield late last year. Nobody knows Maskaev, nobody knows Peter, and nobody at all knows Chagaev. To most Stateside fans, this is the heavyweight title fight.

Photo © IBO

Don't you wish it were a little more compelling? Try as they may, HBO has sort of failed to make this seem like a truly big fight. This probably has something to do with the fact that the heavyweight division simply does not really matter anymore. Dan Rafael of ESPN was discussing the cruiserweight division on his Insider blog recently, and remembering when cruisers were considered fat light heavyweights. Given the depth and exciting nature of the current cruiser crop, Rafael wondered if we should consider the heavyweights to be, mostly, fat cruiserweights. In many cases, it's fair. The days before the 250-pound muscleman heavyweight saw the likes of Joe Louis and even Muhammad Ali fighting at around 200 pounds. Rocky Marciano never weighed even as much as 200 pounds.

It's a different world, to say the least. The heavyweight division, compared to the great fights we see so frequently these days, seems slow, lacks the monster punchers and great personalities it used to have, and doesn't even have a truly dominant force.

As good as Wlad Klitschko has become under Manny Steward's guidance, his current winning streak is...well, suspect. DaVarryl Williamson, Eliseo Castillo, Sam Peter, Chris Byrd, Calvin Brock, Ray Austin and Lamon Brewster have fallen since Klitschko was dropped by Brewster in 2004. It's been very impressive watching him dominate everyone but Peter, for the most part, what has he proven? We already knew he could slaughter Chris Byrd, the best fighter of the bunch. Brewster was all but retired going into the rematch. Brock is a solid pro, but nothing exceptional. And Castillo and Williamson are journeymen.

Sultan Ibragimov, too, has racked up his 22-0-1 record without much in the way of anything spectacular. His win over Holyfield was the biggest of his career, but it was a 44-year old man who had no chance. He beat Shannon Briggs for the WBO title, but Briggs was a lame duck champion. His excruciating draw with Ray Austin is still too fresh in the minds of those who doubt Ibragimov's skill.

Like Ibragimov, Klitschko has some skeletons, too. He's become so good because he's learned to use his jab so effectively, and he hits damn hard, particularly with the left hook and the monstrous right hand that follows his jabs. In short, he and Steward, without ever saying so, have developed a way for Wlad to stay out of the wheelhouse of his opponents. We're talking about a guy who's been knocked out by Brewster, Corrie Sanders and Ross Purritty. This isn't exactly the man with the iron chin.

But does Ibragimov have the boxing skill to force his way inside and make Klitschko mix it up? At a distance, Klitschko will manhandle Ibragimov and probably knock him out. If Sultan can make a rugged affair of it, he's got a real shot. Ibragimov's game is sound all around, no glaring weaknesses, and no great strengths. Klitschko is exceptional in some areas, but those whiskers are always going to be questioned.

Whatever you think of the division as a whole, both of these men deserve props for making this fight. For years, every hack that's gotten his grubby paws on a version of the heavyweight title has preached the good word of unification, yet none of them took so much as Step No. 1 in making it happen. At the least, Klitschko and Ibragimov have done that.

We'll be here on Saturday night to watch and score the fight, with round-by-round coverage and analysis. We also implore you to catch Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed immediately preceding the fight on the east coast, and immediately following it on the west coast.