By Mark Vester
IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (48-3), recognized as the best heavyweight in boxing, predicts his rematch with Lamon Brewster (33-3) in Cologne, Germany will be a very tough fight. Brewster, well behind on all three official scorecards, came from behind to stop an exhausted Klitschko in the fifth round of their 2004 meeting.
Klitschko admits that he was still inexperienced when he lost to Brewster over three years ago. As a result, he went back to the gym with trainer Emanuel Steward and worked hard over the last few years to correct any flaws.
"When I was in my 20s and getting experience, I was learning the limits. Now I know exactly what I need, what I don't need. I'm working with Emanuel on strategy, technique and tactics. That's the difference between now and the world before I worked with him," said Klitschko. "The work with Emanuel is creative. It's like writing music. We make notes during our preparations, which are pretty exact in the way we work out how to fight opponents. Then, when I'm in the ring we play music."
On a recent conference call to promote the fight, Klitschko revealed that unifying the heavyweight division is no longer on his mind. The abundance of politics and behind the scenes agendas have turned him away from the other three champions, and made him more focused on being "the champion."
"Theoretically it's nice to have all the belts and see one world champion, but practically it's very difficult because there is always a conflict of interest," Klitschko said. "I was trying in the last few years to unify the titles, but it didn't work, so I said to myself, 'be successful with one belt instead of four'."
The July 7 bout will be televised live by HBO.
