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Who is Vitali Klitschko’s Toughest Fight?
Who is Vitali Klitschko’s Toughest Fight?
By Julian Kasdin (July 21, 2005)
http://********boxing.com/DHB/Kasdin072105.htm
Over the last few months there has been a lot of criticism, much of it justified, over Vitali Klitschko’s, 35-2 (34), lack of activity. The one thing people criticize the most is what seems to be his ‘ducking’ of Hasim Rahman, 40-5-1 (33), but is Rahman his most worthy challenger?
Since losing to Lennox Lewis, Hasim Rahman has lost to Evander Holyfield, John Ruiz, and scored a draw against David Tua, a fight which he should have won. Following his loss to Ruiz, Rahman has pulled off five victories against Alfred Cole, Mario Cawley, Rob Calloway, Terrence Lewis and Kali Meehan. This is hardly a murderers row of opponents, and it was the win over Meehan that scored him his shot at the WBC title. If we look carefully at his last five opponents, we see that these wins are largely unimpressive. The combined records of his last five opponents are 164-43-5 (112). Hardly glowing numbers when compared to Klitschko’s last five victories who have a combined record of 186-10-3 (136). The knockout percentage for Rahman’s last five wins comes out to 68 percent, while the knockout percentage for Klitschko’s last five wins comes out to 73 percent. Clearly Klitschko has fought the better opposition, but this is not about Klitschko, this is about who should fight Klitschko because they have been fighting the better opposition. In order to illustrate why Rahman is not qualified to, and why there is another that not only is qualified to fight him but could probably beat him, I will break down the records of the last five victories for other contenders.
The one contender that I feel is most deserving of a shot against Klitschko and stands the best chance of beating him is Nicolay ‘The Beast from the East’ Valuev, 41-0 (31). The last five fighters he defeated have a combined record of 115-6-2 (87), giving them a knockout percentage of 75 percent, even higher then Vitali’s last five victories. His last five opponents also compare favorably to those of Calvin Brock, whose last five have a record of 118-73-13 (81), and Samuel Peter, whose last five have a record of 117-16-5 (69). While Brock should be given credit for his win over Jameel McCline, he has not consistently fought the same level of competition as Valuev, and if one glances over the record of Samuel Peter it becomes quite evident that those he has fought are small heavyweights and not big punchers.
Valuev has, in his last five fights, defeated two undefeated fighters, one fighter who now holds the EBU and IBF intercontinental titles, and fighters as large as McCline but with more proven power. Valuev has also defeated all of these fighters via knockout, which is something that a challenger and possible champion should do. While the numbers clearly support Valuev’s legitimacy as a challenger to the champion and clearly show that he has fought better competition then any of his peers, there is another, possibly even more important, reason why he would be Klitschko’s toughest challenge.
Vitali Klitschko, standing at 6’8” and possessing an 80 inch reach is the largest heavyweight champion in history, and much of his strategy relies on his ability to hit his opponent and pull back out of harms way. Against Valuev his height and reach advantage are negated, as Valuev stands at 7’2” and possess a 90 inch reach. If Klitschko were to pull back from a punch, which he often does, he would only move into Valuev’s range. All of Klitschko’s advantages are non-existent in a fight against Valuev. He would be fighting a man half a foot taller than him and with ten inches more reach. Valuev also seems to possess more power then Rahman and as Valuev has continued to improve as a fighter his power seems to now match is 325 pound frame, and therefore make this the one time that Klitschko would truly fight someone that could match his punching prowess. The only question one could ask is if Valuev has a solid chin, and from the video I have seen it seems that not only is his chin solid, but that he could give Mercer a run for his money. In fights against Gerald Nobles, Richard ****o, Attila Levin and Clifford Etienne, Valuev took hard flush shots on the chin, with little more than his heading moving some to indicate he had been hit. While brawling with Levin in the final seconds of their match, Valuev took an astounding four hooks to the chin and did not so much as flinch, but continued to maul his opponent – an opponent that is 6’5”, 250 pounds and has 23 knockouts.
Over the last three years Nicolay Valuev has shown amazing improvement, displaying skill and speed that are seldom seen in a big man, and that match almost any active heavyweight with the exception of James Toney, Chris Byrd, and Wladimir Klitschko. With his size, power, and skills he presents the toughest challenge to Vitali Klitschko or any other title holder. His chin is like granite, and his recent victories are over consistently better competition then almost anyone in the division. I would even go so far as to say that if anyone can beat Vitali Klitschko, that Nicolay Valuev is the man. All I am asking is why is this worthy contender, and possible world beater, is not getting his deserved shot. Why do the sanctioning bodies and American promoters continue to shut him out? When will the ‘Beast from the East’ get his shot?
By Julian Kasdin (July 21, 2005)
http://********boxing.com/DHB/Kasdin072105.htm
Over the last few months there has been a lot of criticism, much of it justified, over Vitali Klitschko’s, 35-2 (34), lack of activity. The one thing people criticize the most is what seems to be his ‘ducking’ of Hasim Rahman, 40-5-1 (33), but is Rahman his most worthy challenger?
Since losing to Lennox Lewis, Hasim Rahman has lost to Evander Holyfield, John Ruiz, and scored a draw against David Tua, a fight which he should have won. Following his loss to Ruiz, Rahman has pulled off five victories against Alfred Cole, Mario Cawley, Rob Calloway, Terrence Lewis and Kali Meehan. This is hardly a murderers row of opponents, and it was the win over Meehan that scored him his shot at the WBC title. If we look carefully at his last five opponents, we see that these wins are largely unimpressive. The combined records of his last five opponents are 164-43-5 (112). Hardly glowing numbers when compared to Klitschko’s last five victories who have a combined record of 186-10-3 (136). The knockout percentage for Rahman’s last five wins comes out to 68 percent, while the knockout percentage for Klitschko’s last five wins comes out to 73 percent. Clearly Klitschko has fought the better opposition, but this is not about Klitschko, this is about who should fight Klitschko because they have been fighting the better opposition. In order to illustrate why Rahman is not qualified to, and why there is another that not only is qualified to fight him but could probably beat him, I will break down the records of the last five victories for other contenders.
The one contender that I feel is most deserving of a shot against Klitschko and stands the best chance of beating him is Nicolay ‘The Beast from the East’ Valuev, 41-0 (31). The last five fighters he defeated have a combined record of 115-6-2 (87), giving them a knockout percentage of 75 percent, even higher then Vitali’s last five victories. His last five opponents also compare favorably to those of Calvin Brock, whose last five have a record of 118-73-13 (81), and Samuel Peter, whose last five have a record of 117-16-5 (69). While Brock should be given credit for his win over Jameel McCline, he has not consistently fought the same level of competition as Valuev, and if one glances over the record of Samuel Peter it becomes quite evident that those he has fought are small heavyweights and not big punchers.
Valuev has, in his last five fights, defeated two undefeated fighters, one fighter who now holds the EBU and IBF intercontinental titles, and fighters as large as McCline but with more proven power. Valuev has also defeated all of these fighters via knockout, which is something that a challenger and possible champion should do. While the numbers clearly support Valuev’s legitimacy as a challenger to the champion and clearly show that he has fought better competition then any of his peers, there is another, possibly even more important, reason why he would be Klitschko’s toughest challenge.
Vitali Klitschko, standing at 6’8” and possessing an 80 inch reach is the largest heavyweight champion in history, and much of his strategy relies on his ability to hit his opponent and pull back out of harms way. Against Valuev his height and reach advantage are negated, as Valuev stands at 7’2” and possess a 90 inch reach. If Klitschko were to pull back from a punch, which he often does, he would only move into Valuev’s range. All of Klitschko’s advantages are non-existent in a fight against Valuev. He would be fighting a man half a foot taller than him and with ten inches more reach. Valuev also seems to possess more power then Rahman and as Valuev has continued to improve as a fighter his power seems to now match is 325 pound frame, and therefore make this the one time that Klitschko would truly fight someone that could match his punching prowess. The only question one could ask is if Valuev has a solid chin, and from the video I have seen it seems that not only is his chin solid, but that he could give Mercer a run for his money. In fights against Gerald Nobles, Richard ****o, Attila Levin and Clifford Etienne, Valuev took hard flush shots on the chin, with little more than his heading moving some to indicate he had been hit. While brawling with Levin in the final seconds of their match, Valuev took an astounding four hooks to the chin and did not so much as flinch, but continued to maul his opponent – an opponent that is 6’5”, 250 pounds and has 23 knockouts.
Over the last three years Nicolay Valuev has shown amazing improvement, displaying skill and speed that are seldom seen in a big man, and that match almost any active heavyweight with the exception of James Toney, Chris Byrd, and Wladimir Klitschko. With his size, power, and skills he presents the toughest challenge to Vitali Klitschko or any other title holder. His chin is like granite, and his recent victories are over consistently better competition then almost anyone in the division. I would even go so far as to say that if anyone can beat Vitali Klitschko, that Nicolay Valuev is the man. All I am asking is why is this worthy contender, and possible world beater, is not getting his deserved shot. Why do the sanctioning bodies and American promoters continue to shut him out? When will the ‘Beast from the East’ get his shot?
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