Help me out here. Looking back on this fight from June 2009, I have to question what warranted the vacant lineal HW title (not The Ring title) to be at stake.
Wladimir was obviously consensus #1, but surely Vitali was #2? So whether he would've fought Haye as scheduled, or Chagaev as he did, how could the lineal title have been on the line when those two were #3 and #4 at best?
Or, am I getting my rankings wrong – was Vitali not considered #2 due him having only recently returned? Also, we had that ridiculous WBA situation where Chagaev and Valuev were co-champions right up until Chagaev was stripped before the fight. Was Chagev therefore #2 after all, based on recent resume?
Considering all that, I believe the previous HW lineage should've started from Wladimir–Haye in 2011 instead. Unless, again, Vitali was #2 by this point.
Wladimir was obviously consensus #1, but surely Vitali was #2? So whether he would've fought Haye as scheduled, or Chagaev as he did, how could the lineal title have been on the line when those two were #3 and #4 at best?
Or, am I getting my rankings wrong – was Vitali not considered #2 due him having only recently returned? Also, we had that ridiculous WBA situation where Chagaev and Valuev were co-champions right up until Chagaev was stripped before the fight. Was Chagev therefore #2 after all, based on recent resume?
Considering all that, I believe the previous HW lineage should've started from Wladimir–Haye in 2011 instead. Unless, again, Vitali was #2 by this point.
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