(Almost) The King, Wladimir Klitschko
By Cliff Rold
Fans in most of the world probably haven’t seen it yet, but boxing may have fielded its best candidate so far for 2007 Fight of the Year last Sunday night. I’ll get back to that a few paragraphs from now. After all, boxing fans have much to anticipate in the next couple of days and the future should take precedent.
Heavyweight contender and IBF titlist Wladimir Klitschko (48-3, 43 KO, Ring Magazine #1) should have his anticipations deliberately spread over a couple of fights. I mean literally a couple of fights too because, with the right two wins, the long vacancy atop the heavyweight division is over.
It’s been just more than four years since the Ukrainian giant was this close to the summit of the sport. With the boxing world beginning to chatter about a future challenge of then-champion Lennox Lewis, Klitschko would be forcibly pushed from the precipice in two rounds by Corrie Sanders in March 2003. Two fights later, he would be shuttled to the canvas again, this time by the man he faces in mere days. It’s easy to wonder if he will carry those bad memories with him to the ring.
Indianapolis-based Lamon Brewster (33-3, 29 KO, #8) has to be hoping he will. Defeat may not be the right word to describe what Brewster did in the context of their first encounter so feel free to replace it. Outlast…outgut…out not-seemingly-have-a-panic-attack…call it what one will. The fifth round technical stoppage victory for Brewster on April 10, 2004 remains one of the more bizarre nights in recent boxing vintage.
Over their first three rounds, Klitschko looked as good as he had in his entire career. Brewster was kept at the end of his jab, absorbing ridiculous levels of punishment that included a third round trip to the ring floor. It was easy to assume Klitschko would soon have his hand raised.
Then he just dropped.
Somewhere around the middle of the fourth, Klitschko began to look spent, his punches losing snap until in the fifth he had no punches, or energy, at all. A series of right and left hooks from Brewster prompted a standing eight count in the final minute of the round. Klitschko tried to press on but fell after a tussle on the ropes at the bell and could hardly raise himself to walk to the corner. The referee waved it off and Brewster had the biggest victory of his career.
The excuses came from many directions. There was of course a laughable conspiracy theory involving Vaseline and leg rubs; the more palpable theory that he had punched himself out, though doing so in only three rounds was just weird…it remains to this day a mystery
That’s appropriate I suppose because ‘mystery’ remains, ten years into his career, the best way to describe Klitschko. When he’s on, he’s one of the best offensive forces one could ever hope to see at heavyweight. He has speed, power, and accuracy to go with wins over current and past top ten contenders like Chris Byrd, Jameel McCline, Calvin Brock and Samuel Peter. Thus it’s puzzling but necessary to recall that he failed to hear the final bell against Brewster, Sanders and Ross Purrity(?).
Yet here he stands, all 6’7 of him, ready to stake his claim as the king of the heavyweight division. Barring another night that only the Warren Commission could love, Klitschko should defeat Brewster in their rematch. Brewster hasn’t fought in over a year and reportedly suffered a detached retina in his last bout, a loss to Sergei Liakhovich in what was likely the best and most brutal heavyweight scrap since Michael Moorer-Bert Cooper. Klitschko has won six in a row since their first encounter and has been devastating in scoring three consecutive knockouts. With a victory, Klitschko provides himself the aesthetic of beating the last man to beat him.
That will provide him a great deal of capital with fans and add to the rhetorical fuel for his promot…err, broadcasters at HBO in proclaiming him the man to beat. He still though will have one obstacle remaining on his journey to stamping his name in history as the lineal successor to Lewis.
Put aside all the politics for a moment. Come October 7 of this year, Sam Peter (28-1, 22 KO, #2) will likely have the WBC belt and still have a loss to Klitschko. Had rules against punching behind the head been enforced, it wouldn’t have been close. I and most that follow the game would love to see these two go again; Peter has clearly improved.
There’s a chance Peter could lose to current WBC titlist Oleg Maskaev, but Maskaev has been a perennial knockout victim against any top foe not named Hasim Rahman so I don’t like his chances. Regardless, Klitschko-Peter II is a fight that can wait and various shenanigans, politics and the return of Wlad’s big brother (Vitali Klitschko) will make it wait anyways.
Therefore, it’s another October bout that matters most for those that want to see a single heavyweight champion. The scheduled October 13th unification bout between WBA titlist Ruslan Chagaev (23-0, 17 KO, #4) of Uzbekistan and WBO titlist Sultan Ibragimov (21-0-1, 17 KO) of Russia is that bout. By all logical rights, it will produce the guy Wlad must beat, or be beaten by, to end what by then will be a nearly four-year vacancy of the World heavyweight title.
It will be particularly the case should Chagaev emerge with two belts. Chagaev, in his last four bouts, has gotten by tough opposition like former titlist John Ruiz and Michael Sprott and he’s put the only losses on the records of Nicolay Valuev (46-1, 34 KO, #5) and Vladimir Virchis (23-1, 19 KO, #10). He’s got a hell of a case already that he is just as deserving of the number one spot in the division as Klitschko is and doesn’t have three stoppage losses on his dossier.
Ibragimov is a question mark in terms of quality but he is undefeated and can at least claim to be the man who beat the man etc. who last beat Wladimir Klitschko (his otherwise trivial WBO belt comes in a direct line from the first Klitschko-Brewster bout). Through sheer process of elimination, a victorious-against-Brewster Klitschko versus the Chagaev-Ibragimov winner is the Heavyweight champion of the world.
A heavyweight division that has lacked for so long in terms of clarity is suddenly boiling down. The sport is as close to a true heavyweight champion as it has been in years. It should come as no surprise that having this scenario riding on the shoulders of a guy who lost to Ross Purrity (and Sanders and Brewster) makes close still seem quite far away.
(Maybe) Fight of the Year: As I wrote last week in my mid-year review, this has been a year of many good fights but none that stands out as a time-capsule piece. That remains true today but last Sunday may have produced the best of the fine crop thus far. It took place in Japan between two diminutive warriors all but invisible on the U.S. radar and changed the dynamics of one of the sports most talented weight divisions.
Flyweight Takefumi Sakata (31-4-1, 15 KO, #3) had long appeared to be one of those guys who would always give a good show without ever really becoming the show. Appearances must have been deceiving. In a tremendous effort of will, skill and thrill, Sakata upset the former consensus choice for best 108 lb. fighter in the world Roberto Vasquez (24-2, 17 KO, #5), a man who narrowly defeated him just last year. In victory, Sakata laid full claim to the WBA belt and opened the door for some intriguing bouts.
The rematch was a different bout than the first. Both men started at a measured pace but that didn’t last. The southpaw Vasquez, of Panama, landed several hard lefts in the second and was doing the same in the third before Sakata exploded with his first combinations of the night. By the fifth round, Sakata’s lead right hand was beginning to open up violent flurries. Vasquez would land single hard shots upstairs and some ferocious body shots but the work rate of the Japanese native was overwhelming. The eleventh round was brutal with Sakata pinning Vasquez against the ropes, landing to the head and body, lefts and rights coming faster than the eye could hope to count. Appearing near done at the penultimate bell, Vasquez would rally at points in the twelfth, keeping Sakata honest and keeping his hopes alive even as time slipped away from him. It was a marvelous, highly skilled effort that colored both men in honor.
If and when this fight makes its way onto sites like YouTube, fans should go out of their way to check it out. Flyweight has been for the last few years, and remains, a gold mine for hardcore boxing fans and Sakata has earned his place near the head of the table. Before injuries and body mass ate away at former flyweight titlist Lorenzo Parra, he had been one of the games best at any weight. Sakata was his toughest foe both in victory and a defeat earlier this year. Vasquez, as noted, has also been highly regarded. For Sakata to bounce back from losses to both and find a way to win can not be commended enough.
Given his global position, it’s not impossible to think that Sakata could be a viable opponent at flyweight for Japanese megastar Koki Kameda (15-0, 11 KO, #10); popular Australia and U.S. based IBF titlist Vic Darchinyan (28-0, 22 KO, #2) or even lineal World champ Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (65-2, 34 KO) of Thailand. No matter who he fights next, fans beyond Japan owe this young man their attention.
Showtime: Speaking of Darchinyan, he’ll be opening up what promises to be the better pure boxing show of the weekend. While Klitschko-Brewster II is the headliner for the majority of folks, its 5 PM eastern U.S. start time on HBO allows fans to settle in again later in the evening for two of the most entertaining fighters in the sport on Showtime.
The Armenian-born Darchinyan will be facing off with tough Filipino Nonito Donaire (17-1, 10 KO, unrated). Having defeated Donaire’s brother Glenn in 2006, this has some family feud elements to go with one unmistakable truth: when Darchinyan fights, it’s always worth watching. His awkward, back-foot based, power punching style makes him one of the best TV fighters alive. With both he and Wonjongkam stating an interest in facing each other, who knows what a win Saturday could lead to. Economics makes flyweight bouts between titlists tough to make (the added sanctioning fees just take too much from relatively small championship purses) but that is a fight with ‘action classic’ written all over it.
The main event is a sleeper possibility for fight of the summer. WBA 154 lb. titlist Travis Simms (25-0, 19 KO, #8) of Bridgeport, Connecticut is a fighter of extreme quality and extreme anonymity. An impressive win could open the doors he needs to change that. Simms foe, Joachim Alcine (28-0, 18 KO, unrated), can bang and box, with seven of his last ten ending inside the distance. He’s beaten some faded names (Carl Daniels, Stephane Oullet and Carlos Bojourquez) and this bout provides a leap in competition. If he’s up to it, fans will be glad they tuned in.
The Ten Second Bell: I promised a follow-up to my mid-year review this week but it’s holding for seven more days. My apologies…
It was a pleasant surprise to open the Washington Post sports section last Monday and see a near half-page photo of Sakata, celebrating his win over Vasquez, on page two. It was chosen as picture of the week and was probably the most foreign fight coverage I’ve seen in a major U.S. paper in ages. One picture making that mark doesn’t say much but I’ll take it…
All-time great, and 44-year old, Evander Holyfield (42-8-2, 27 KO) defeated Lou Savarese last weekend, and fans who find themselves wondering if Evander has one title left need to write that on a chalkboard 100 times or something. Yes, Evander would have a shot against an Oleg Maskaev type, but the problem is that none of the titlists at the end of 2006 are likely to be that suspect. Evander is heading towards a terrible beating, showed awful balance and slow feet against Savarese, and is not helped by alleged fans that root on this vainglorious endeavor. That said, this is still America and he’s a grown man so his end will be his choice…
Now that Top Rank and Golden Boy are bosom buddies (is Arum or Oscar the Peter Scolari in that analogy?), everyone is chiming in with what inter-promotional squabs they’d like to see. Here are my suggestions: at 115 lbs., a Mexico vs. Puerto Rico showdown between Cristian Mijares (31-3-2, 12 KO, #4, WBC belt) versus Fernando Montiel (33-2-1, 24 KO, #5, WBO belt); at 108 lbs., the winner of Hugo Cazares-Ivan Calderon versus Ulises Solis (24-1-2, 18 KO) of Mexico. I’m not sure either suggestion is a main event, but they’d be great undercard attractions for high-profile main events like Manny Pacquiao-Marco Antonio Barrera II…
As to that now scheduled bout, Pacquiao may have just been managed into the best position possible. One thing I took from Barrera-Juan Manuel Marquez earlier this year is that while both Mexicans are still game, neither is at his physical peak any longer. Pacquiao should be able to stop Barrera once again and in the interim Jorge Barrios will only add miles to Marquez. Marquez needed Marquez-Pacquiao II sooner rather than later to have his best chance to win and he’s not getting it…
So what happens if Brewster upsets Klitschko? How then does the heavyweight title get filled? That’s a headache waiting to happen and I’ve pulled out an old Algebra textbook just in case a new formula is needed.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com