Featuring Four Champs With Zero Charm, Boxing’s Premier Division is Searching for a Savior
By David P. Greisman
In a time when the boxing public is collectively clamoring for a tournament to unify the heavyweight titles, the status quo is instead defiantly debasing the sweet science’s marquee division to the point that it has become frustratingly fragmented by uncharismatic, unskilled or uninspiring fighters who defend their belts against questionable opposition, and with unremarkable results.
Perhaps the most blatant offense to date is the speculation that WBO heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster will be facing the Foul Pole, Andrew Golota at Madison Square Garden in March of 2005. The same Andrew Golota that got a controversial draw against IBF champ Chris Byrd in April and an ugly loss to WBA titlist John Ruiz in their November clinchfest. The same Andrew Golota that had been inactive since an October 2000 KO loss to Mike Tyson (changed to a No Contest after Iron Mike tested positive for marijuana), coming back to fight twice and win via TKO in 2003 against Brian Nix and Terrence Lewis, who had ten and thirteen losses respectively. The same Andrew Golota, and I know I this may be going overboard and delivering a low blow (which is definitely something that Golota is familiar with), that had enough potential and skill to be clearly winning not once, but twice against Riddick Bowe, only to be disqualified for repeated hitting below the belt.
Yet thanks to deft maneuvering from promoter Don King, Golota was placed in the IBF’s top fifteen in order to get a shot at Byrd, and the Warsaw native redeemed himself in an exciting bout that many ringside observers felt that the European had won. Stuck with a draw instead, Golota received another chance against Ruiz, but he wound up participating in a foul-filled fight in which there were more clinches than punches landed by either pugilist, and despite two knockdowns and a point deduction from Ruiz he again ended up with the short end of the stick when the judges handed out their decisions.
So, supposedly, Golota, who did not win in 2004 and yet is somehow ranked as the seventh best heavyweight by both The Ring Magazine and USA Today’s Dan Rafael, will see if the third time is the charm when he squares off against Brewster in Madison Square Garden. And although the common denominator in all of these fighters is that Don King promotes them, the undistinguished record of recent title defenses has been systematic of the division as a whole.
In a perfect world, a champion is a monarch who reigns mightily over people through fear, respect, or awe. In our world, a champion is decided by one of four major sanctioning bodies, and only has to prove himself about twice a year against substandard opponents that put the “Who?” in “Who’s Who.” The championship is no longer solidified by a body of work, title defenses that establish the combatant as the best of the best, but instead sporadic appearances that do little more than place the “world champ” at the top of the proverbial heap.
John Ruiz received his WBA title in December 2001 in the second match of his trilogy with Evander Holyfield, retaining the title with a draw in the rubber match and a disqualification win against Kirk Johnson until losing it embarrassingly and convincingly to Roy Jones, Jr. Only when Jones chose to head back down to light heavyweight to challenge Antonio Tarver was Ruiz able to earn the WBA belt back with an ugly win against a gun shy Hasim Rahman, followed by wrestling matches with Fres Oquendo and Golota. Ruiz’s style is anything but fan-friendly, but his awkward, mauling tactics have brought success, albeit little respect.
Like Ruiz, Chris Byrd received his title in the aftermath of Lennox Lewis dumping belts rather than face unattractive (read: less money, more frustration) fights, defeating Holyfield for the vacant IBF championship. Since drubbing the Real Deal, Byrd has defended his title in what some fans and media feel were three straight losses, in wins against Oquendo and Jameel McCline and the draw with Golota. Byrd may be the most skilled of the four champions, and as his elusive speed has declined he has been forced to go toe-to-toe more often, making for more entertaining matches. He is also the lone active fighter to have defeated WBC and Ring Magazine champion Vitali Klitschko, although it came from Klitschko’s retiring after the ninth round with a torn rotator cuff. Still, the Las Vegas resident desires greatness, and has repeatedly said that he will fight anyone, although his craving for a second match with the 6’7” Ukrainian is yet to be satisfied.
The third heavyweight champ in King’s stable, Lamon Brewster was best known prior to April 2004 from his two disappointing losses to lower-tier denizens Charles Shufford and Clifford Etienne. By defeating Wladimir Klitschko via fifth-round TKO (and setting conspiracy theories afoot), Brewster threw a monkey wrench into the Klitschkos’ plans to rule the heavyweight world. His only fight since was against New Zealand’s Kali Meehan, a man who had lasted only thirty-two seconds against Tyson conqueror Danny Williams. In what seems to be a recurring theme, Brewster benefited from a controversial split decision, winning by one point and setting the tables for the upcoming defense against Golota.
Rounding out this pathetic posse is Vitali Klitschko, regarded, whether rationally or otherwise, as the heavyweight champ. Well, the heavyweight champ was deprived of the opportunity to earn the linear championship from Lennox Lewis, and since then has defeated overweight and out-of-shape pugs Kirk Johnson, Corrie Sanders and Danny Williams, whose average weights equal an Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera put together, although with one-hundredth of those Mexican warriors’ skills. Klitschko picked up Lewis’s vacant WBC belt in his April TKO victory over Sanders, and though he has jockeyed for the position of The Man, all he has accomplished in beating Sanders and Williams is beating the guys who beat the guys who were supposed to be The Men That Would Revitalize the Heavyweight Division, Klitschko and Mike Tyson, respectively. Like his above cohorts, Dr. Ironfist fights infrequently, and no matter the quantity or volume of the claims from various interested parties, Klitschko has yet to solidify his standing as the true champion.
With this situation, will one of the four step out of the alphabet soup of titles and stake a claim as the unified champ, or will our savior come in the form of an outsider, a James Toney or Hasim Rahman? Toney, an old-school fighter at heart, has had only two recent fights at this weight class, dismantling the aged Evander Holyfield and the young Rydell Booker, and his body has begun to break down to a series of injuries that have left Lights Out inactive for the majority of the past year. Hasim Rahman has also gone old-school, staying active by blazing a comeback trail with five victories this year and earning mandatory challenges in all the major sanctioning bodies’ rankings. The question, though, is which Rahman would show up for a title bout: the promising, heavy-handed boxer who knocked out Lennox Lewis and Kali Meehan, or the overweight, one-hit wonder that was subsequently KOed by Lewis, beginning a streak of four straight winless outings.
It could be said that the heavyweight division is wide open for the taking, but that would only be true if the fighters did what they were paid to do: fight, and fight each other. Until that point is reached, the four beltholders will lord over their respective fiefdoms, sprawling the blight until everything has deteriorated or our savior arrives, whichever comes first.
