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By Rick Reeno - A few years too late, but as the old saying goes - better late than never. Later today at the Cologne Arena in Cologne, Germany, IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (48-3, 43 KOs) will try to avenge a 2004 TKO loss to Lamon Brewster (33-3, 29 KOs).
In their first meeting on April 10, 2004, Brewster took a vicious beating on route to a fifth-round TKO win. After four rounds of pounding Brewster all over the ring, Klitschko's inability to properly pace himself was the catalyst for the loss. He was so exhausted by the fifth round that he was barely able to stand.
After being knocked down at the end of the fifth, from exhaustion and not the missed winging shots of Brewster, he was barely able to get back to his feet, and the fight was waved off by the referee.
Following the loss, conspiracy theories ran amok in the media and the Klitschko camp. The rumors were everywhere; the water bottle was spiked, a Klitschko camp member being paid off to sabotage the fight and plenty of other tales were being spun by the Klitschko public relations machine.
The first fight was a one-sided beating for the most part, are we to expect something different?
Maybe.
There is no debate about Brewster's heart. In his last ring outing, a decision loss to Sergei Liakhovich in April 2006, Brewster suffered a detached retina in the first round of the contest and fought a do-or-die war for twelve rounds. Despite the injury, the fight was arguably the best heavyweight contest since Lennox Lewis fought Vitali Klitschko.
As a result of the injury and the surgery that followed, Brewster has been inactive for almost 15 months. Can he shake off the rust when he steps in the ring against the best heavywieght in the world? [details]
In their first meeting on April 10, 2004, Brewster took a vicious beating on route to a fifth-round TKO win. After four rounds of pounding Brewster all over the ring, Klitschko's inability to properly pace himself was the catalyst for the loss. He was so exhausted by the fifth round that he was barely able to stand.
After being knocked down at the end of the fifth, from exhaustion and not the missed winging shots of Brewster, he was barely able to get back to his feet, and the fight was waved off by the referee.
Following the loss, conspiracy theories ran amok in the media and the Klitschko camp. The rumors were everywhere; the water bottle was spiked, a Klitschko camp member being paid off to sabotage the fight and plenty of other tales were being spun by the Klitschko public relations machine.
The first fight was a one-sided beating for the most part, are we to expect something different?
Maybe.
There is no debate about Brewster's heart. In his last ring outing, a decision loss to Sergei Liakhovich in April 2006, Brewster suffered a detached retina in the first round of the contest and fought a do-or-die war for twelve rounds. Despite the injury, the fight was arguably the best heavyweight contest since Lennox Lewis fought Vitali Klitschko.
As a result of the injury and the surgery that followed, Brewster has been inactive for almost 15 months. Can he shake off the rust when he steps in the ring against the best heavywieght in the world? [details]
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