By Scoop Malinowski

Undefeated Heavyweight contender/curiosity Chris Arreola deserves a lot of credit if he follows through with recent discussions and arranges a mouth-watering match-up with former WBO champ Sultan Ibragimov. Though the fight is not signed and sealed, Ibragimov’s manager Boris Grimberg confirmed preliminary discussions have occurred. “Yes. (But there is not a deal) not yet. It’s too early to talk about. Next year. Not till the end of the year will Sultan fight.”

Mexican-American Arreola, ranked #4 by WBC/WBO, #7 IBF, sports an all-business, no nonsense style which would surely be put to the test by the rapid-firing Russian left-hander, ranked #5 by the IBF. This clash has slugfest written all over it, especially since Ibragimov will revert back to his previous relentless attacking style, after parting ways with defensive minded trainer Jeff Mayweather after the points loss to Wladimir Klitschko in their February IBF/WBO unification bout.

Informed boxing fans will love this meaningful match-up and we hope all parties come to an agreement. Once again, it must be said that Arreola deserves high marks for his courage and confidence if he does indeed decide to do battle with Ibragimov (22-1, 17 KO’s), rather than handpicking decent but limited opposition of the Kevin Johnson/Tomas Bonin sort for his future HBO dates.