Sultan Ibragimov

USA–Russia Duals (91 kg), Marquette, Michigan, November 1998:

USA–Russia Duals (91 kg), Mashantucket, Connecticut, November 1998:

USA–Russia Duals (91 kg), Mashantucket, Connecticut, April 1999:

In February 2009 there were rumors about Ibragimov's retirement from boxing following his loss to Wladimir Klitschko, which were later confirmed in July 2009. Ibragimov remains one of only five heavyweight champions, alongside Gene Tunney, Rocky Marciano, Riddick Bowe and Nicolai Valuev to have never suffered a stoppage defeat.

Ibragimov fought Wladimir Klitschko on 23 February 2008 at Madison Square Garden. This fight was a unification bout laying the two fighters' IBF and WBO world titles on the line. The Klitschko-Ibragimov fight was the first heavyweight unification since Holyfield-Lewis in 1999. The unification clash with Ibragimov proved to be a huge disappointment for fans. Klitschko was very dominant from the first bell. He backed Ibragimov into a corner and proceeded to push down Ibragimov's glove with his left hand so he could not throw a punch. Though Klitschko won every single round, the crowd in New York City began booing after the second round. The boos and jeers increased as the fight progressed in the same fashion. Ibragimov's corner was almost silent from the sixth round onwards, unable to give their man any meaningful advice. Ultimately, Ibragimov lost the bout by a lopsided unanimous decision, with scores 110–119, 111–117 and 110–108.

Ibragimov turned professional and rose through the heavyweight ranks by knocking out former world cruiserweight champion Al Cole, Zuri Lawrence, Friday Ahunanya and former heavyweight contender Lance Whitaker. On 28 July 2007, Ibragimov faced Ray Austin in a 12-round IBF heavyweight title eliminator. Austin, having had fought at the professional level for eight years, was four years older than Ibragimov coming into the bout, with ESPN commentators believing this was Austin's last chance to earn a shot at the heavyweight title. Though Ibragimov appeared to have outboxed Austin for the majority of the fight, the judges ruled the bout a split draw, with the scorecards being 115–111 for Ibragimov, 114–112 for Austin and 113–113 even. According to CompuBox, Ibragimov landed 107 shots out of 347 (30.8%) while Austin landed 112 punches out of 463 thrown (24.2%). Ibragimov outlanded Austin in five rounds out of twelve, with two rounds being even in terms of landed shots (including the fourth round in which Ibragimov knocked Austin down). He also landed more power punches in rounds 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11 and 12, with 2nd round being even.

Despite the draw against Ray Austin, Ibragimov received a title shot from another sanctioning organization, the WBO. He was scheduled to challenge Shannon Briggs for the WBO world heavyweight title on 10 March 2007, but because Briggs became ill with pneumonia, Ibragimov instead faced Javier Mora at Madison Square Garden in New York on that date. Ibragimov knocked out Mora 46 seconds into the first round. This win broke the record for the quickest knockout in a main event bout in Madison Square Garden, which was previously held by Lee Savold who defeated Buddy Walker in 1948.

Prior to facing Briggs, Ibragimov changed his training camp, having joined Jeff Mayweather. Under Mayweather, Ibragimov moved away from his aggressive volume-punching fighting style, instead trying to adapt the more defensive style known as "Philly Shell". Ibragimov eventually faced Shannon Briggs for the WBO world heavyweight title in Atlantic City, New Jersey on 2 June 2007. Ibragimov was 52 pounds lighter than his opponent coming into the bout. With the exception of an early and late pressure by Briggs in round one & twelve, rounds two to eleven were mostly controlled by Ibragimov, out-boxing his larger opponent with fast combinations. Ibragimov won the fight by unanimous decision, with the judges scoring the bout 119–109, 115–113 and 117–111.

On 13 October 2007, Sultan Ibragimov won his first title defense against the aging former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield by unanimous decision at Khodynka Arena in Moscow, Russia.

Strandzha Cup (91 kg), Plovdiv, Bulgaria, February 2001:

World Championships (91 kg), Belfast, Northern Ireland, June 2001:

Summer Olympics (91 kg), Sydney, Australia, September 2000:

European Championships (91 kg), Tampere, Finland, May 2000:

Four Nations International Tournament (91 kg), Moscow, Russia, July 2000:

Trofeo Italia (91 kg), Naples, Italy, March 1999:

Russian National Championships (91 kg), Chelyabinsk, Russia, June 1999

Black Sea Cup (91 kg), Sevastopol, Ukraine, October 1999:

Feliks Stamm Memorial (91 kg), Warsaw, Poland, September 1998:

Sultan-Ahmed Magomedsalihovich Ibragimov (Russian: Султан-Ахмед Магомедсалихович Ибрагимов ; born 8 March 1975) is a retired Russian professional boxer of Dagestani descent who competed from 2002 to 2008, and held the WBO heavyweight title from 2007 to 2008. As an amateur he won silver medals at the 2000 Olympics and 2000 European Championships, and bronze at the 2001 World Championships, all in the heavyweight division.