By Sammy Rozenberg
Three years ago in Las Vegas, Wladimir Klitschko (49-3, 44 KOs) suffered the worst loss of his career when he was stopped in five rounds by heavy underdog Lamon Brewster (33-4, 29 KOs). On Saturday night at the Cologne Arena in Cologne, Germany, Klitschko gained a measure of revenge when he stopped Brewster in six rounds to successfully retain his IBF heavyweight title.
Over 20,000 boxing fans chanted Klitschko's name as he pumped his left jab like a drill from the opening bell. Brewster was never able to find a way to get past the reach and size advantage of Klitschko. The left jab was Klitschko's money punch in this fight. He landed almost 50% of his jabs per round, and in the process landed more jabs against Brewster in six rounds than any previous opponent who fought Brewster, even in twelve round bouts.
After five rounds of witnessing Brewster take a beating from Klitschko's left jab and right hand, trainer Buddy McGirt gave his fighter one more round to show him something. He came out for the sixth round like he did the previous five, standing flat-footed and taking a pounding.
McGirt had no choice, but to stop the fight at the end of the sixth round, giving Klitschko his revenge in anticlimactic fashion. Brewster did not complain with the stoppage and actually agreed with the decision of his trainer.
"I have a family at home. Klitschko was the better man tonight. He had a good jab. I knew that I couldn't take those punches all night," Brewster said.
Brewster was coming off 15-month layoff due to detached retina, suffered during his April 2006 loss to Sergei Liakhovich. Once he returns to America, he plans to sit down with his family to discuss the future of his career.
In their first meeting, Klitschko punched himself out after four rounds of brutally punishing Brewster with power punches. The rematch saw a much different strategy. Klitschko fought at a much more measured pace, using his jab as the weapon to control the fight and the range finder to land his right hand. It was very clear that Klitschko has grown as a fighter during the last three years, and fixed all of his mistakes from the first fight.
Looking ahead, Klitschko would still like to land a unification fight.
"I tried last year. Hopefully I can have a unification fight next. I would give anything to fight one of the other champions," Klitschko said.
Landing a unification bout may become quite a dilemma. Keeping his IBF title may prove to be a dilemma as well.
The IBF is poised to order an elimination bout between Chris Byrd and Calvin Brock to appoint a mandatory challenger to their heavyweight title. Klitschko has beaten Byrd twice, the second time was a one-sided knockout and he also knocked out Calvin Brock. It's safe to say that Klitschko has no interest in fighting either man again, and neither does the boxing public.
Klitschko’s next opponent will probably be decided in October. WBC champion Oleg Maskaev defends against mandatory challenger Samuel Peter. Wladimir will have trouble fighting the winner because his older brother Vitali has already been promised the first crack at the new champion. Vitali still has to beat Jameel McCline in his comeback fight, a task that shouldn't be too hard when you take a look at McCline’s previous track record in big fights.
Also in the same month, WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov will meet WBA champ Ruslan Chagaev in the first heavyweight unification bout in eight years. Neither fighter is under contract to Don King, who usually demands options, and that alone could make the negotiations process very easy. Klitschko has spent years staying clear of King fighters in order to avoid giving up any options on his future fights.
There are lesser fights he could take. Someone like Sergei Liakhovich, Nikolai Valuev or even an Evander Holyfield. The problem with some of these bouts is the reward factor. If staged in Germany, there could be a lot of money involved in a Klitschko bout with Valuev or Holyfield. The problem is that bout fighters present a lot of risk with very little payback.
Valuev is coming off a loss to Chagaev, and it just makes more practical sense to wait for the winner of the unification bout between Ibragimov and Chagaev. Holyfield, 44, has yet to prove his readiness for a fight with Klitschko. Beating guys like Oquendo and Savarese will not prepare you for a fight with best heavyweight in the world. He needs to step up the level of his opposition by fighting someone like a Liakhvich, Brock or even a rematch with Byrd.
Klitschko is currently standing alone at the top. In the next few months, most hope that a worthy threat to his throne is established.