by David P. Greisman
A career can come crashing down in 10 seconds or less. Rebuilding it can take much, much longer.
Rebuilding is not just about television dates and title shots and regaining the opportunity to have those opportunities. Rather, it is about confidence, about a fighter not just showing everyone else that he deserves another chance, but about that fighter showing himself that he is capable of capitalizing once that chance is extended his way.
As important: He must show himself that no matter how many wins he has compiled as a gradual confidence booster, there will not be another devastating loss to serve as an immediate confidence buster.
Not just cannot be. Not just should not be.
Will not be.
The fights this coming weekend spotlight three boxers at different places within that process: Amir Khan, Vic Darchinyan and Wladimir Klitschko.
The rebuilding of Klitschko has provided the blueprint for the rebuilding of Khan. The rebuilding of Darchinyan, meanwhile, could provide, in a way, the blueprint for another recently kayo victim: Paul Williams.
It has now been more than six-and-a-half years since Klitschko was consigned to the heavyweight scrap heap, thought to be chinny, thought to wilt under pressure, thought to be shattered and irreparable.
There was the second-round technical knockout loss to Corrie Sanders in March 2003. Then there was the fifth-round stoppage loss to Lamon Brewster in April 2004.
There have been 13 straight victories since. Klitschko will go for 14 this Saturday when he faces Dereck Chisora.
Long gone is the deer-in-the-headlights look that took over Klitschko’s face as Sanders sent him down again and again (and again and again). Long gone is the panicked retreat Klitschko used in an attempt to evade Samuel Peter’s flailing onslaught.
Now Klitschko looks like a lion presiding over his jungle, swatting powerfully at whomever dares enter his kingdom.
Klitschko’s team had tried the typical lazy rebuilding formula following the Sanders loss – the formula that dictates sticking the guy in with a couple lower-tier foes who will fail to pose a threat and who will fall before his might.
The confidence that such a strategy produces is but a façade, mere smoke and mirrors. Lamon Brewster saw through it, punched past it, soaking up the punishment dished out by a Klitschko who had regained his offensive confidence and then hammering away at a man who had yet to shore up his defensive weaknesses.
Two of his next three fights following the Brewster loss saw Klitschko on the canvas: a flash knockdown against DaVarryl Williamson and three floorings against Peter. Klitschko would get up and won those fights.
He has not been down again since.
Much of that has to do with the teachings of trainer Emanuel Steward. Much of that has to do with the way Klitschko has put those lessons into practice. And much of that has to do with the men Klitschko has beaten.
Fellow titlists and former beltholders. Top Contenders. Mandatory challengers. Punchers. And men who had knocked him down before.
Klitschko has lost few rounds since his first fight with Peter. He’s gone from heavyweight scrap heap to heavyweight champion.
He has learned to use distance and height, learned to work behind a powerful jab and not to lower himself by overextending with his right cross. He has incorporated simple but deft footwork to take himself out of range of his opponents’ attacks.
He has learned how to avoid trouble. And he has done that often enough and with seemingly effortless success. It isn’t flashy. But it works.
It isn’t just that he’s confident again.
He’s comfortable.
Such comfort is what Amir Khan is striving for.
Khan, like Klitschko against Sanders, has had to rebuild after being bombed out early, losing in less than a minute in September 2008 to Breidis Prescott.
Khan had been down in past fights – against Willie Limond and Michael Gomez – but he’d been able to recover and win. He never got such a chance against Prescott, who hurt him badly with the first knockdown and finished him with the second.
Khan’s fought five times since, winning each. Four of those foes have been less capable (Oisin Fagan), smaller (Marco Antonio Barrera), less skilled (Dmitriy Salita), less powerful (Paulie Malignaggi). But there was also a unanimous decision victory against the very adept Andriy Kotelnik.
And it hasn’t necessarily been who he’s defeated, but how he’s defeated them.
As with Klitschko, and as every top fighter should do, Khan has worked to use his advantages to mask his disadvantages. In his case, Khan is no longer opening himself up by trying to overwhelm and overpower his opponents, but rather using his speed to land his own shots while avoiding incoming punches.
Under the tutelage of trainer Freddie Roach, Khan is learning how to box better.
Now, as Klitschko did over time, Khan must also learn to conquer his demons. He will face Marcos Maidana this Saturday. As with the Prescott fight, Khan is facing a power puncher who will seek to shatter Khan’s chin first, his confidence second, his chances last.
How Khan acts and reacts against Maidana will point to how Khan performs – and whether and against whom he performs – in the future.
Klitschko had to learn how not to worry about being knocked out. Khan is seeking to learn that. Vic Darchinyan never learned, perhaps because, mentally, he never had to.
For some fighters, the knockout loss is a consequence of a physical flaw. For others, however, it is a consequence of a mental flaw.
Darchinyan’s loss to Nonito Donaire in July 2007 was the result of a perfect punch: perfect timing, perfect placement. Darchinyan, ever so predictable with his offense of charging forward behind a southpaw jab and a follow-up left cross, left himself even more vulnerable by charging with his arms low and his chin high. He served himself up for (and was sent down by) Donaire’s counter left hook.
Less than a year-and-a-half later, Darchinyan was the 115-pound champion.
A chinny fighter is not one who goes down from a perfect punch – top fighters are supposed to be able to hurt other top fighters – but one who goes down from a lesser touch.
The loss to Donaire was not symptomatic of a problematic chin, but a problematic brain. Darchinyan had fought as if he was indestructible. He would need to incorporate more technique.
And so he used patience and better distance and timing to knock out Dmitry Kirilov and Cristian Mijares. Alas, despite a decision loss to Joseph Agbeko, Darchinyan has since reverted to his former style. He is not just confident that his opponents can’t handle his power, but also cocky about his ability to handle theirs.
After all, how often does a perfect punch land? Not that he needs to, but Darchinyan will test that question this Saturday against Abner Mares.
The perfect punch is what Sergio Martinez landed last month on Paul Williams, a beautiful counter left that had hit Williams again and again in their brief two-round affair, the last one alighting on that proverbial button, delivering Williams somewhere between consciousness and concussion.
Williams has long been vulnerable to counters, whether it was against Sharmba Mitchell or Carlos Quintana or Martinez. He shirked defense, giving up his formidable height advantage by dipping down when he punched, leaving ample room for any return fire to find his chin.
He had taken those shots from everyone else until the Martinez rematch. It is not that he cannot take those shots from others. But he does not have to.
Williams’ rebuilding process will not be one of self-doubt, but one of self-improvement. And while that will veer from the specific routes taken by Klitschko and Khan, the overall route to recovering from a knockout is the same:
It isn’t just what a fighter must do to keep from losing, but also what the fighter must do to keep winning.
The 10 Count will return next week.
David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. His weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com.
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