With the hand injury to former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye postponing their fight, #8 WBC heavyweight contender Manuel Charr (23-1, 13 KO’s) has decided to take a stay busy fight against 330 lb. Russian journeyman Evgeny Orlov (13-1-1, 9 KO’s) in a scheduled 10 round bout on June 15th this month at the Karl Eckel Halle, Hattersheim am Main, Hessen, Germany.
For those boxing fans who might not be pleased that the 28-year-old Charr is taking such an easy opponent, this is actually pretty much the norm for Charr in terms of the quality of his opponent. Orlov is the kind of that Charr has been fighting his entire 8-year pro career. The one exception was Charr’s fight against WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko last year in September, and Charr was stopped in the 4th round by Vitali in a one-sided fight.
Orlov isn’t exactly a good tune-up to get Charr ready for a fighter as fast as Haye. He’s probably the worst possible opponent Charr could find to get him ready for that fight. However, Haye might end up fighting Tyson Fury instead of Charr, so it might not even matter. Charr can fight Orlov and it wouldn’t be a big deal.
Charr will be defending his WBC Baltic heavyweight title in this fight. He may have to go this distance in this one though because Orlov has a pretty good chin and only been stopped a on a few occasions. Orlov has been in with the likes of Vyacheslav Glazkov, Alex Leapai, Kubrat Pulev, Francesco Pianeta, Vladimir Tereshkin, Atilla Levin, and Mariusz Wach. He’s lost to all of those guys but he’s been good enough to give them rounds. This will likely be the case for Charr on June 15th. Unless Charr really goes after him in an an all out assault, Orlov will go the distance.
Charr needs to face better opposition if he wants to improve. If he gets the Haye fight he’s going to be way over his head and I doubt he’ll make it out of the first round. He’s too easy to hit and he’s too slow.