By Joe Harrison
The heavyweight division of professional boxing will have a slightly different look going into the year 2006. There are a couple new champions, some new contenders, and more intriguing match-ups lined up to increase the possibility of the titles changing hands yet again. Meanwhile, legendary promoter Don King revealed his wish to create a heavyweight tournament, which would eventually create a single, unified heavyweight champion of the world.
This would certainly make for a more exciting year than 2005, a year when many boxing fans put their attention on Vitali Klitschko, whom never even defended his title this year due to numerous postponements leading to his retirement from the sport of boxing for good.
Because Hasim Rahman (41-5-1, 33 KO’s) was the WBC interim champion, the WBC voted for him to be declared the undisputed WBC champion. Looking ahead, on March 18th, Rahman is to make his first defense of the WBC title against James Toney.
Although it was Oleg Maskaev who defeated Sinan Samil Sam in a WBC eliminator, the WBC felt that James Toney (69-4-2, 43 KO’s) had done enough to earn a shot at the title. Rahman and Toney already came to blows last Monday night at the Le Meridien Cancun Resort & Spa in Mexico, and they’re dying to get in the ring with each other.
The WBA title changed hands as well this past Saturday in Germany. The seven-foot tall Russian, Nicolay Valuev (43-0, 31 KO’s), defeated John Ruiz by majority decision to become the tallest and biggest heavyweight champion in boxing history. Although the decision was somewhat disputed, a good example being the mixed reaction from the audience once the decision was announced, it was a very close fight and there are boxing experts who agree that Valuev was the winner. There is the possibility of a rematch but it would probably be more interesting if the giant took on some of today’s other top heavyweights.
Another Russian, Sultan Ibragimov (19-0, 16 KO’s), is looking to get into the title picture. He’s currently the WBO Asia Pacific heavyweight champion and has already made six successful defenses of the title. His latest victim was Lance Whitaker, whom he defeated by a seventh round technical knockout when Whitaker couldn’t continue due to a bad cut. Whitaker was also looking to become a top contender but will have to start back at square one again.
Remember Danny Williams, the guy that knocked out Mike Tyson, then was given a shot at the WBC title only to be pummeled by Vitali Klitschko back in 2004? We didn’t expect to see him again, especially after he dropped out of his fight with the British champion, Matt Skelton, only a day before their match last July. So when former the WBF heavyweight champion, Audley Harrison, claimed that nobody had the courage to step into the ring with him, it was stunning to see that Williams (34-4, 28 KO’s) was up to the task. Indeed he was, chasing Harrison around the ring on the way to a victory by split decision. Now Williams is finally ready to step into the ring with Matt Skelton (18-0, 17 KO’s) on February 25th in a possible eliminator.
Calvin Brock (27-0, 21 KO’s) has progressed throughout the year, staying undefeated and scoring wins over opponents such as Clifford Etienne and Jameel McCline. We expected him to continue climbing the ladder and take on top opponents, but he went after Kenny Craven and David Bostice instead. Perhaps that was enough tune-up matches for him, and maybe he’ll have bigger fights in 2006. It’s almost guaranteed that he will.
Another boxer trying to get into the loop is Vitali Klitschko’s younger brother, Wladimir. Wladimir Klitschko (45-3, 40 KO’s) became the #1 contender in both the IBF and WBO by defeating Samuel Peter by unanimous decision last September in one of the most anticipated heavyweight showdowns of the year. Peter was an undefeated prospect who many expected to knock out Wladimir with his awesome punching power, a valuable ingredient to have against the glass-jawed Klitschko brother.
Instead, Klitschko used a jab and grab style of boxing to avoid being slaughtered by Peter’s wild punches. Those punches did connect with the back of Klitschko’s head a couple times, sending him to the canvas, but it was not enough to outscore the younger Klitschko brother. Now, Klitschko can fight either the IBF champion, Chris Byrd, or the WBO champion Lamon Brewster. Both have met Wladimir before, but experienced different results. When Byrd and Klitschko met back in October of ‘04, Klitschko dominated Byrd en route to a unanimous decision, becoming the WBO champion.
However, when Klitschko stepped into the ring with Brewster in April of ’04, the results would be different. Klitschko appeared to be winning every round but began to get in trouble going into the middle rounds. By the end of the fifth round, Klitschko could no longer stand and fell to the canvas, bringing an end to the fight. Many feel that Klitschko would have no problem in a rematch with Byrd, but whether or not he can make a better fight with Brewster remains to be seen.
Samuel Peter (25-1, 21 KO’s) has definitely shown much power and potential but he obviously still has much to learn as he continues his path toward the championship picture. His recent match with Robert Hawkins didn’t look very convincing, yet, Peter is still young and should take his time as he gets more experienced and improves his boxing skills. There is talk about a match between him and Shannon Briggs in the early part of 2006, which could make for an interesting battle.
Shannon Briggs (45-4-1, 39 KO’s) fought five times this year. He’s won each of his last nine bouts, all by knockout, with 5 of those knockouts coming in the first round. Although none of those opponents were top-ranked fighters, each had winning records, including two whom were previously undefeated. Briggs is climbing the rankings quickly and may find himself getting a shot at a world title sooner than later. He already has another fight lined up for the vacant USBA title on January 27th against an opponent to be named. Could it be Samuel Peter?
The year 2006 is looking to have an exciting start. Names such as DaVarryl Williamson, Monte Barrett, Jameel McCline, and Larry Donald are out of the scene for now. The ongoing injuries of Vitali Klitschko are also gone, and hopefully, we no longer have to witness the boring performances of John Ruiz. We look for the other names to bring us more exciting match-ups, with even more appealing results. If this is to happen, then 2006 may be the year that the heavyweight division gains back much of the popularity it had lost during 2005.
