The Sultan swing

Adam Smith is in New York for the big one, where he says there is big money going on Sultan Ibragimov.

This week's blog comes from the heart of New York! The city's freezing temperatures should be fired right up on Saturday night in the mecca of world boxing, Madison Square Garden. There's much expectation and huge media interest ahead of the first heavyweight unification clash since Evander Holyfield was gifted that draw against Lennox Lewis here in Manhattan, before Lewis won their re-match in Las Vegas; both way back in 1999. The one and only Michael Buffer doesn't normally host press conferences... to see him on the dais here on Wednesday added gravity and a real sense of occasion. There is far more interest in this fight than I thought there would be. Scores of sports journalists will be ringside and over a hundred countries around the world are televising the fight. Ukrainian giant Wladimir Klitschko is a fabulous role model for the sport. Multi-lingual and approachable, Wladimir's dedicated to helping charities and very close to his brother Vitali, the former world champion. What I really respect about Klitschko is that he endured hard, possibly even career-breaking defeats to Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster, but he has re-built and come back an even better fighter. His legendary trainer Emanuel Steward believes Klitschko could have held his own in any era. But it seems that Klitschko, for all his talent, may have that horrible boxing syndrome - the glass jaw. That, along with a very fit, hard and fast opponent in Russia's undefeated Sultan Ibragimov makes this a fascinating battle.

Assured manner

Ibragimov does look much, much smaller than Klitschko but there has been a really relaxed feel about him this week. Ibragimov has calmly dealt with the pre-fight interviews and pressure in an assured manner. I like what I see. There's a quiet confidence from Sultan's house. His trainer, Jeff Mayweather speaks with supreme belief that he has the right man for the job on Saturday. So Ibragimov must be given a chance. A big underdog, yes, but Klitschko has been knocked out early and late. I know of one or two large bets that will be going the Russian's way. Logically, it's tough to back against Klitschko but are upsets in the air? Last week on Friday Fight Night, Puerto Rico's Carlos Quintana caused 2008's first real sensation, skillfully out-boxing the much touted American Paul Williams to capture the WBO welterweight title. In the process Quintana took Williams' unbeaten record. I don't expect this week's Friday Fight Night to produce a shock win for the talented, rather under-achieving Steve Bendall. The Midlands southpaw faces the daunting task of attempting to be the first professional to beat the fabulous youngster Darren Barker. Barker's so focused, fighting for the memory of his brother Gary who was tragically killed in a car crash, and looks one of those intelligent, mature types who might just go a long way. Surely an emphatic defence of the Commonwealth Middleweight belt for Barker on Friday. I really thought Jermain Taylor might upset the odds in his re-match with Kelly Pavlik. Having lost his World Middleweight title, Taylor did put on a much better performance, up in weight, but just couldn't sustain his fine work for long enough periods. Pavlik won, but the cards were way too wide - some of our boxing team even felt Taylor had done enough. I called for him to really 'carpe diem' last week and prove he was prepared to leave no stone unturned. I'm not sure he did that.

Attraction

The rumour mill says Taylor will tackle Roy Jones in June, while we've been told its 99 per cent likely that Pavlik will meet the very popular New York-based Irishman John Duddy in the same month here in the Garden. Team Pavlik will be ringside this weekend for Duddy's tough warm-up against French-Canadian Walid Smichet. There are posters all over the Irish bars, as if he's more of an attraction than the heavyweights. Duddy is just massive here. He's exciting to watch, can talk well, is a lovely guy and a media dream - Ricky Hatton-esque. But to have this appeal in America is something else. Team Duddy have sold more than a £250,000 worth of tickets. And for a non-title fight! Wonderful! So to a big and hopefully special night at the magical Garden. Jim Watt and I can't wait to take our seats at the most famous sports arena in the world. But will it be Wladimir Klitschko or Sultan Ibragimov who will take heavyweight boxing forward? Don't miss this long-awaited heavyweight unification showdown. They don't come along that often.