According to ESPN, the four-man heavyweight box-off that we've been hearing about for the past couple of months is officially a go. The contestants will be Calvin Brock, Alexander Povetkin, Eddie Chambers and Chris Byrd. The prize? a shot at Wladimir Klistchko's title belt.
In other words, there is a 50% chance that Klistchko's next fight will be against either Brock or Byrd, two guys that he has already completely dominated in the ring. Does anyone actually want to see either one of these two rematches? Didn't think so.
In Byrd's case, the guy has already lost twice to Wladimir. He had a nice little run after winning the IBF belt from Holyfield, but, at this point, I think he's done. After being completely destroyed by Klistchko last year, I'm not sure why he's even in the tournament to begin with.
As for Brock, he's still pretty young: though he's 32, he didn't turn pro until he was in his mid-twenties. Do I think he deserves another title shot if he can rack up a nice little winning streak? Certainly. Just not against Wladimir. Because I have no doubt the second fight will turn out just like the first.
On the other hand, I do think it's a good thing that two young, undefeated guys like Povetkin and Chambers are getting the shot. I've never seen Povetkin fight, but I've read great things about him, and I thought Chambers looked pretty good against Dominick Guinn. But if you're going to have a heavyweight box-off, why bother to put Byrd and Brock in it at this point? There's a number of heavyweights I'd rather see get the shot: guys like Tony Thompson, Matt Skelton, Chris Arreola, Vladimir Virches (who's only loss came by controversial decision against Russian Chagaev). Honestly, I'd even rather see David Tua get the shot.