By Sam Bevington: In one of the first boxing heavyweight unifications bouts in ages, WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (23-0, 17 KOs) will meet up with Sultan Ibragimov (21-0, 17 KOs), the WBO heavyweight champion, on October 13, 2007, in Moscow, Russian. Both fighters have recently won their titles, and neither of them have much of a following in the United States or the world, for that matter. In terms of talent, both Ibragimov and Chagaev have to be considered two of the weakest heavyweight champions in memory, at least as far as I can recall.
Ibragimov, 32, won his title over Shannon Briggs, winning a 12-round unanimous decision on June 2, 2007, in a fight in which Briggs threw very few punches. It wasn’t the case of Ibagimov looking good, but more so that Briggs appeared to be battling health problems during the bout, and had problems breathing. Rather than taking advantage of Brigg’s immobility and punishing him, Ibragimov mostly stayed on the outside and threw jabs, and looking very timid. As for Chagaev, he won the WBA title in April 2007, beating Nikolay Valuev by majority decision. However, it appeared that Chagaev, in fact, lost the fight, as was the case in his fight with John Ruiz in November 2006, where Chagaev won a 12-round split decision.
By Chris Williams: Erik Morales (48-5, 34 KOs) will be challenging WBC light champion David Diaz (32-1-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday night at the Allstate Arena, in Chicago. Morales, 30, going into the bout, has lost three consecutive fights, two of which have been brutal knockout losses to Manny Pacquiao. In fact, Morales hasn’t looked good since winning a 12-round decision over Manny Pacquiao in March 2005. It’s unclear what happened since that time, perhaps it’s because of him putting on a great deal of weight after his winning effort against Paquiao. 
By Matt Rohr: On Friday night, heavyweight prospect Chazz Witherspoon (19-0, 13 KOs) had a much tougher time against Talmadge Griffis (24-7-3, 16 KOs), as he struggled much of the bout before coming on and stopping him in the ninth round of their 10-round bout at the City Center arena in Saratoga Springs, New York. Witherspoon, 25, the cousin of the heavyweight boxing great Tim Witherspoon, seemed timid in the early rounds, rarely throwing any meaningful punches aside from jabs.
In a battle between two 36-year-old former welterweight champions, Carlos Baldomir (43-10-6, 13 KOs) meets up with Vernon Forrest (38-2, 28 KOs) on Saturday, July 28, at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington. Baldomir is coming off an eight-month layoff since losing his WBC welterweight title to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in November 2006. However, not one to take things easy, Baldomir is showing his extraordinary courage by choosing Vernon Forrest, a former IBF and WBC welterweight champion, as his first bout back rather than an easy tune-up fighter. 