By Tom Donelson
So how would Klitschko measure up against the current Heavyweight champions? Right now, I have to say I would favor Klitschko over the others but it is not to automatically say that Klitschko would, in fact, prevail.
Boxing match ups is as much about style as anything else. For example, Chris Byrd has fought the two Klitschko brothers over 22 rounds and you would be hard press to find any rounds that he actually won. While he is 1-1 with his victory over the older brother Vitali, Byrd had difficulty in fighting the much bigger and stronger Klitschko brothers. Their height, boxing ability and strength advantage made it difficult for Byrd to gather momentum. What saved Byrd in lone Klitschko win was Vitali’s damaged shoulder.
Would a rematch be any different? Vitali would use his size to keep Byrd at bay and force Byrd to come to him where he has the advantage. In the second round of the McCline-Byrd, Jameel McCline pushed the issue and used his size to punish Byrd on the rope and nearly finished Byrd off. Byrd outlasted McCline as McCline ran out of gas and allowed Byrd to win the last several rounds.
Vitali would come in 20 pounds lighter and should be less likely to tire out than McCline. But would Klitschko run out of gas and become vulnerable to a Byrd comeback in the second half of their fight? Vitali Klitschko throws a lot of punches for a heavyweight. Against Williams, Klitschko averaged 70 punches for round and there were times that he appeared to be gassed.
Klitschko’s last two opponents were even more gassed since they were getting hit with barrages of accurate punches. Byrd has enough defensive skills to keep from getting pounded consistently. He might be able to deflect many of Klitschko’s power shots and hopefully tire the bigger fighter out.
Against McCline, Byrd threw over 170 punches in the last two rounds and connected on nearly 40% of them. Byrd will not tire and this is his best chance to win. The one flaw with this strategy is that Byrd is now 33 and a step slower. Klitschko would be the favorite but Byrd would have an abundance of confidence since he did prevail in their first fight and Byrd has the chin to survive any of Klitschko’s outbursts.
Nicolay Valuev loves to use his power and reach advantage against his opponents. He is also able to get close enough to hold and mug his opponents while frustrating them, and has the ability to force normally good boxers fight his fight. For the first time in his career, Klitschko would be the smaller man in comparison to the seven-foot Valuev, but he would still have the clear advantage with his boxing skills and rock solid chin.
Vitali has a very effective jab that goes along with an accurate right hand. Klitschko could keep Valuev at bay and force him to fight. In my opinion, Valuev's only chance to win is to rumble on the inside when they get close and use his long jab like he did with John Ruiz. Klitschko's jab may actually keep this a boxing match. Closer fight than what most pundits would assume but Klitschko has too many weapons for Valuev.
Lamon Brewster would be the easiest for Klitschko to beat. Brewster's only chance is for Vitali to repeat what his brother did and just run out of gas. Brewster would take alarming pounding in employing his usual strategy and will be more worn out from being hit by Klitschko, and not the other way around.
The toughest opponent could be Hasim Rahman. Rahman has a long reach and an excellent jab. Rahman has decent mobility for a heavyweight and is a far heavier puncher than Byrd. He beat Lennox Lewis in their first fight and if he is on fire like he was against Meehan, he could upset Klitschko.
In the second Tua fight, Rahman averaged nearly 80 punches per round in the first four rounds and averaged over 50 punches per round for the entire fight. And he was nearly 30 pounds over his best weight for this fight. If he is properly conditioned as he was in his last couple of fights, he would have enough endurance to match the normally busy Klitschko.
Klitschko would be the favorite but this fight has intriguing possibility of an upset written all over it.
