Champion: Wladimir "dead man walking" Klitschko

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Thanks for sharing,,, got info and perspective from wlad

[iNorton]

Where's this piece from?

This is from Wlad's recent interview to Russian sports journalist Alexander Belenkiy. This interview is characteristically entitled "I'll never forget the smell of the floor". Unfortunately, it is only available in Russian language as far as I know.

[iNorton]

Thanks for sharing,,, got info and perspective from wlad

You are welcome!

[Anthony342]

Where's this piece from?

Interesting and very honest appraisal form Wlad. Respect.

To answer your question, a true champions only shows when he's faced adversity in my opinion. As much as I dislike Wlad's style, I can have nothing but respect for two things in his career:

1) He's come back from multiple knockouts to be one of the most dominant heavyweight champs in history (in his era).

2) He's managed to find a new level of focus and dedication that enables him to stay in sublime shape for every fight and keep a high level of motivation, even though the opponent doesn't always supply much of a challenge.

That's no easy feat.

Agreed and good points. Speaking of number 2 there, Roy Jones said something similar after Cotto's last fight with Rodriguez stating he thinks Cotto should only try to take big fights for the rest of his career because it can be difficult for a fighter to stay motivated sometimes if his opponent isn't a big name or top contender. Wlad may not be an ATG P4P or even among heavyweights, but his work ethic is, as evidenced by the documentary on him. Stewart said when they trained that that went over every little detail during training camp leading up to every fight and I imagine Wlad still does that now.