By Troy Ondrizek
The recent vogue thought process regarding the heavyweights is there is no talent and they are boring. Well they have talent, but are afraid to use it for the most part and subsequently are boring. Take a minute to sit back and reminisce about all those memorable fights the heavyweights have given us in this century. Done? So am I.
There were moments like Lewis collapsing from a surprise Rahman right hand, and in the rematch, Rahman poetically lying unconscious at the base of a Don King emblem on the canvas. One can’t forget about Vitali Klitschko’s grotesque eye in his most triumphant albeit losing moment. Or Sergei Liakhovich going through the ropes with one second left when there finally was a punch thrown in his contest with Shannon Briggs.
All these were moments, and none of the fights were consistently great. Only one fight, a single contest for a paper title comes to mind. On April Fool’s Day 2006 the fans in Cleveland saw the best heavyweight title fight in years and most likely it won’t lose that moniker anytime soon.
Lamon Brewster was a steamrolling mass of momentum and had just flattened Andrew Golota and Luan Krasniqi in his two fights leading up to this. He put Golota down three times in the first round and then traveled to Germany and dropped Krasniqi for a very long count in the eighth before he made the hometown favorite quit in the ninth. Those two fights were merely four months apart; in stark contrast Sergei Liakhovich hadn’t fought in nearly sixteen months and many believed, including me, while he was dangerous, that he didn’t deserve the title shot. Sergei’s previous fight was an impressive upset over former contender Dominick Guinn. His lack of fights was due to a sternum injury suffered during training.
The fight started as expected with Brewster living up to his nickname as “Relentless” and he hunted Liakhovich down and started throwing bombs. Sergei can be a bit tricky when he wants to be and he measured Brewster early and it didn’t take long before those right hands to the body started frequently landing. During this same timeframe a feinted right to the body collided viciously with Lamon’s head and it separated his retina from its cozy post. From that point on Lamon said he only saw a yellow hue, but he felt the “White Wolf’s” power.
As the fight progressed Brewster kept trying to close the gap on Liakhovich and threw haymakers with recklessness and harmful intent. On his way in Sergei punished him with blistering combos and big right hands. In between rounds Liakhovich’s trainer Kenny Weldon pleaded with him not to stand in front of Brewster but to move and fight in spots. His advice was dead on throughout and when Sergei listened, he found his greatest success. Problem was, Sergei is a fighter first, technician second, and it’s hard to listen when you’re being punched in the head. In the seventh round Brewster finally got into his comfort zone and forced Liakhovich to take a knee along the ropes. It seemed that Brewster’s consistent pressure and power had finally made Liakhovich wilt.
That rest was vital to Sergei’s survival and proved integral to his victory. Lamon thought he had his man finished, but in reality Liakhovich went on to stun Brewster several times during the furious exchanges that followed. Liakhovich took the decision win and announced himself as a legitimate contender. Both men left it all in the ring that night, unfortunately it turned out to be all the men had left in their careers.
The former champion Lamon Brewster has only fought once since that fateful night. His injured eye kept him out for a while, and in his only bout since, he fought a motivated Wladimir Klitschko looking for revenge for his latest defeat. Lamon seemed content eating right hands and not throwing many punches. It was almost like he was mesmerized by the big Ukrainian, or more poignantly, like he didn’t want it anymore. His brutal first fight with Klitschko and his follow-up with Krasniqi and the Liakhovich fight would’ve taken a lot out of any man. It seemed it took his heart as well. In a one-sided beating Brewster had enough after six rounds and he quietly walked out of the ring and out of boxing that night.
Sergei came back seven months later against Shannon Briggs and survived a turbulent first round and then barely fought the rest of the way. He did fight just a smidge more than the lethargic Briggs did and was carrying the lead into the 12th round. It was here that Briggs’ counter right hurt Liakhovich badly and then Shannon “The Cannon” shot the “White Wolf” out of the ring. For as abysmal as Briggs was in that fight, Liakhovich was just a little worse. Many claimed a shoulder injury for his troubles, but it seemed it was Briggs’ power that stunted Sergei’s assault. No matter what the truth was, he was no longer a titlist.
Brewster still isn’t officially retired, but there is no word of a fight for him, and Liakhovich just fought Nikolai Valuev in a WBA eliminator this past Saturday. He looked awful and was content on blocking every Valuev jab with his head and offered no attack of any kind. He was a whopping 251lbs for this fight, when he almost always weighed in the 230’s. Sergei lost every round on all three scorecards and looked defeated before the fight started. Blame has been cast on another shoulder injury and poor training in Bulgaria. Whatever the truth is there, he significantly declined since his greatest moment almost two years ago.
With his impressive victory, Sergei brought much excitement to the division, and there seemed to be more in the future for Brewster as well. I don’t know who was fooled more, us or them. That night was a shining moment for one and a battle in which a warrior went out on his shield. They still walk around and still fight, but the men they were are still in that Cleveland ring and we can only hope that their fighting spirits can meet their current selves one more time.
