By Joe Harrison
It was a beautiful spring evening in Chicago. Flowers were blooming, people were in good spirits, and it was going to be an exciting Saturday. The anticipation was growing on this historical night in May. People were just getting relaxed… then suddenly, a feeling of shock spread over the crowd.
While some couldn’t believe what they had witnessed, others were pessimistic and unsurprised. The fact remained, it was all over with. "The Powerful Pole" Andrew Golota had just been knocked down, then knocked down again, and then knocked down one more time, losing to "Relentless" Lamon Brewster by a technical knockout 53 seconds into the first round. This occurred in front of a mainly Polish audience, at the United Center’s first boxing card ever, and the first major boxing card to hit Chicago in years.
This wasn’t the first time that Brewster (33-2, 29 KO’s) made boxing headlines everywhere. In April of ’04, Brewster shocked the world when he beat Wladimir Klitschko by a 5th round technical knockout to win the vacant WBO heavyweight championship. Since he was losing the fight before the stoppage, and because he had previously lost to under-achievers such as Charles Shufford and Clifford Etienne, boxing fans were hesitant to take him seriously.
People were also skeptical after seeing Brewster’s first title defense against Kali Meehan in September of ‘04. Brewster got the split decision over Meehan (30-3, 24 KO’s), but some believed that Meehan did enough to win the fight. Also, people remembered when Hasim Rahman faced Meehan in November of ’04 and destroyed him. Rahman (41-5-1, 33 KO’s) dominated Meehan en route to a 4th round stoppage. Does this mean that Rahman is better than Brewster? Maybe not, but surely Brewster did not perform well enough against Meehan to help his reputation. Even Brewster himself admitted that he didn’t perform very well against Meehan, but also claimed that it was very difficult to fight a close friend. Perhaps that was a legitimate excuse, but it would be six months before people began to recognize Brewster as one of the top heavyweights.
Obviously, things changed when Brewster defeated Andrew Golota last May in Chicago. Golota (38-6-1, 31 KO’s) had good fights with WBA champion John Ruiz, and IBF champion Chris Byrd, and there are people that believe Golota really won both those fights. It really doesn’t matter anymore. Brewster had done something that Byrd and Ruiz never came close to accomplishing. Brewster completely dominated Golota within a single round. If Brewster brought those power punches to the ring against Byrd or Ruiz, would there be similar results?
When Brewster scored an eighth round technical knockout over Luan Krasniqi, a few months ago in Germany, he displayed the same heart and power as he did against Wladimir Klitschko. Other than showing heart and power, he also showed that he lacked the boxing skills needed to win rounds, which is why he was losing the majority of the fight. It was actually Krasniqi (28-2-1, 14 KO’s) who looked impressive as the fight continued into the middle rounds. But Brewster kept going, looking to turn things around. When he finally did, Krasniqi never recovered.
Back to Hasim Rahman, he actually beat Meehan the way that Brewster should have beaten him. Now, with Vitali Klitschko gone, Rahman is the new WBC champion, leaving boxing fans everywhere to debate on who is the world’s top heavyweight. John Ruiz (41-5-1, 28 KO’s) has lost some respect, losing the title twice just to have it handed back to him. Chris Byrd (39-2-1, 20 KO’s) dodged a fight against Wladimir Klitschko, and ended up fighting DaVarryl Williamson in one of the most boring boxing matches in recent memory. There are top contenders such as Calvin Brock, Samuel Peter, and Wladimir Klitschko, but a lot of today’s attention is really on the other two title-holders, Brewster and Rahman.
Pinning Brewster and Rahman against each other would make a good battle. They both have a way of finding that lucky punch, but only one has defended his world title successfully. Rahman may have found a new motivation as a world champion, but how will Rahman compete against a man that keeps coming? He probably can’t, meaning that Lamon Brewster may indeed be the world’s top heavyweight today. This theory could be wrong, seeing how surprises are so common in the world of heavyweight boxing. You never really know what’s going to happen. If you are not in agreement, just take look at who the four world heavyweight champions are today.