Heavyweight Unification Bout Set For Saturday

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- It may not produce the excitement as the Ali-Frazier "Fight of the Century," but history will be in the making Saturday night for Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov. Klitschko (49-3, 44 KOs), the IBF heavyweight champion, meets WBO counterpart Ibragimov (22-0-1, 17 KOs) at Madison Square Garden.

It will be the first unification contest the division has seen since 1999, when Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield at the Garden, prompting Kery Davis, the head of boxing at fight broadcaster HBO to comment, "Unifications are rare, heavyweight unifications are even rarer." So rare that Klitschko promoter Tom Loeffler had to be reminded by fight co-promoter Leon Margules that even his fighter, embarking on his 53rd professional fight, had not been involved in this sort of occasion before. "I was talking to Leon Margules and I asked, 'Is this the biggest fight you've ever been involved in?'" Loeffler said at Wednesday's final pre-fight press conference "He said, 'Of course, and it's also the biggest fight you've ever been involved in, too.'" Both fighters also are aware of the importance this fight has in restoring credibility to a long troubled division in a much-maligned sport. "To be the heavyweight champion means a lot," Klitschko said. "The title is very special and is different than other titles in sport. The heavyweight champion can use that title to inspire people outside of the ring all over the world. "I am determined to win this fight. I am not looking beyond that. That is my determination and goal - to clean up the heavyweight division with each fighter I face."

Standing at 6-6, the 31-year-old Klitschko enjoys a four-inch height advantage over Ibragimov, 32. But he is wary of the Russian's relatively quick feet and effective rather than entertaining style. Ibragimov weighed in at 219 pounds for the second straight fight. Klitschko weighed in at 238 pounds, his lightest fighting weight since beating another "small" southpaw, Chris Byrd, in 2000. "I'm the lightest I've ever been but I feel strong and energetic," Klitschko said after Thursday's weigh-in. "I feel great. The weight was a result of intensive training with fighters who were all at least one weight class below me."

Ibragimov certainly has handled big men before, taking his title from the 6-4 Shannon Briggs and stopping 6-8 Lance Whitaker. Trainer Jeff Mayweather, the uncle of current pound-for-pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., certainly thinks Ibragimov has the goods to upset the favorite. "I have the heavyweight champion, he's the right guy with the right temperament," Mayweather said. "This is the opportunity I have waited my whole life for. It has brought me out of the shadows of being the other Mayweather."