“Fighting Words” – Wladimir Klitschko: Oh, Brother

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

by David P. Greisman - No chin, they said. No stamina. No heart. And worst of all, no balls.

Wladimir Klitschko had overcome the criticism. He had gotten past the stoppage losses, the diminished confidence and the disrespect. He had pounded out eight straight victories, recaptured a heavyweight title and ascended to the top of boxing’s marquee weight class.

He defied the cynics, proving them wrong. He destroyed or defeated all comers, top 10 opponent after top 10 opponent. And yet his biggest challenge is one he cannot confront and could continue to hold him back: his older brother, Vitali. More on that to come.

The days of the brothers Klitschko speaking tongue-in-cheek of world domination in an HBO commercial are in the past. Vitali, beset by injuries, retired, and in doing so he ceded the spotlight to the younger sibling to whom a majority of the attention had originally gone. Wladimir, derailed and demeaned due to two knockout losses, fought for recognition, worked for rejuvenation.

He knocked off beltholder Chris Byrd. Knocked out Calvin Brock, Ray Austin and Lamon Brewster. He fended off the mandatory challengers and waited out the usual sanctioning body and promotional politics for a shot at unification in a long-fractured division. [details]

[edgarg]

The writer is hinting that there is a rivalry between the two brothers. There is NO such thing. Wladimir owes everything to the encouragement of his brother, and fighting him has never entered the picture. And they both promised their parents faithfully never to fight each other. What they do is SUPPORT each other. And, for the record, Vitaly was made "Champion Emeritus" in gratitude that he had done the WBC an enormous favour. During the Rahman lead up, and he suffered that devastating knee injury (the ONLY injury in the whole abortive episode) it was so serious that it would take at least 6 months, maybe a year to recover. He discussed the whole situation with Suleiman and his associates. So that title fights could go on, he retired. Because he wasn't really retiring, they gave him that Emeritus status. He did a very decent thing, where another fighter would have gone out there, leg strapped up with steel braces, limped around for a couple of rounds and then collapsed, and taken his 12-14 million. That's what I call an honourable gentleman, of which we need more in every aspect of boxing.

[Mr. David]

Edgar,

With all due respect, as you've been reading my column since the early days, but once again you're completely incorrect on absolutely every single count.

Let's go through the litany:

The writer is hinting that there is a rivalry between the two brothers. There is NO such thing. Wladimir owes everything to the encouragement of his brother, and fighting him has never entered the picture. And they both promised their parents faithfully never to fight each other. What they do is SUPPORT each other.

Hinting? I used the word "rivalry," but not in the measure you seem to be, ahem, hinting at. There's a big difference between the two of them years ago and the two of them now, and it was apparent from the discomfort Wladimir had in discussing how Vitali could put a damper on unification. Wladimir could be the undisputed champion, but Vitali holding a belt will still be a distraction. And would Vitali be content? Imagine the Colts facing the Giants in the Super Bowl. One Manning brother would be champion, but the loser would never be happy with being second best. If one Klitschko is champion and the other just holds a belt, that situation can never be rectified as long as the status quo remains.

And, for the record, Vitaly was made "Champion Emeritus" in gratitude that he had done the WBC an enormous favour. During the Rahman lead up, and he suffered that devastating knee injury (the ONLY injury in the whole abortive episode) it was so serious that it would take at least 6 months, maybe a year to recover.

Taking on the injury part here. This is at least the the third time you've made this assertion on message boards, and you've done so in e-mails to me as well. And each time I went through with documented evidence of numerous injuries to Vitali Klitschko. And each time I've challenged you to provide proof -- articles, interviews -- in some form other than your unsubstantiated claims.

For the record:

http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2422693#post2422693

Moving on...

He discussed the whole situation with Suleiman and his associates. So that title fights could go on, he retired. Because he wasn't really retiring, they gave him that Emeritus status. He did a very decent thing, where another fighter would have gone out there, leg strapped up with steel braces, limped around for a couple of rounds and then collapsed, and taken his 12-14 million. That's what I call an honourable gentleman, of which we need more in every aspect of boxing.

He wasn't really retiring? Here's the quote from Vitali Klitschko from the press release sent to myself and others in the media the morning his retirement was announced:

"I would like to end my career at its peak so I am retiring now as the champion to clear the way for my successors."

He wasn't doing the WBC a favor. Klitschko wouldn't have been in the ring with that injury, no matter what, not with the trouble he was having even moving side to side without his leg collapsing.

Emeritus status was granted improperly, not that the device has a place in the sport. And the WBC sure seemed convinced he was done, referring to him as "retiring definitively."

I know you're a big fan of the Klitschko family. It's quite apparent. But you're just not right. Sorry.

[Chase8400]

In my opinion, Vitali is the more aggresive, tempermental boxer/brawler -with good skill mixed in. While Wladimir is the calculated, skillful and cautious of the two. Maybe Vitali would be a little more cautious if he were starched in less than (2) rounds by Corrie "Sniper" Sanders as well. But I doubt it. Its clear that both brothers are amazing in their own right. But, as much as can be said for Wladimir- he will never be the crowd pleaser and more exiting of the two . He may be more skilled and may have more single punch KO power, but he also didnt beat the snot out of Corrie Sanders and Lennox Lewis. So, that being said. If Vitali comes back succesfully and beats the winner of Maskaev-Peter by a long way or KO. He will prolly be the frontrunner in the division again. Sorry to say, but it looks like the formula is in place to have (2) greats reign supreme at the same time, and they happen to be close and in the same gene pool. Vitali and Wlad are like best friends and would never let anything come between their blood. Praise in all aspects to them.

[edgarg]

Daviod, I'm surprised that you would write such stuff. Perhaps you read something into it that's NOT there. Your last paragraph in the article states CLEARLY...."he can still earn recognition as Heavyweight Champion despite his older brother's aspirations. But in a division calling out for unification

[edgarg]

Sorry david, I pressed the wrong button. I'll start again. I';m surprised that you'd write as you have. perhaps you read more...or less...into what I wrote, and what I also wrote in the past that is actually there. Yes we know one another rather well, and always amicably...even now.

Naturally I must answer. let me quote the last paragraph of your article.

"

[edgarg]

Sorry David, my computer is misbehaving...Freudian complex perhaps.

First, I want to say that I'm too old to be a fan. I like watching K's odd style, with such accurate punching. Of the 2 fights lost, both injuries when leading on ALL cards, and of rest, 35-40? all but ONE was by KO. He has the highest KO average in all of boxing I think.

Quoting your article, last paragraph on Klitschko ......

""he can still earn recognition as the Heavyweight Champion, despite his older brother's aspirations. But in a division calling out for unification, the time has passed for shared world domination. There can be no sibling revelry as long as there is sibling rivalry"".

A very nice play on words, but now that I read it again, I can say honestly that I don't know what the hell it means, and I wonder if you even do. Did you not mean to say something else? You're clearly saying there's "sibling rivalry", and that's holding back the "sibling revelry" that they'd enjoy if Wladimir became Undisputed Champion.

Nearly everyone in boxing had heard them both say, separately and together, in maybe 90% of their TV appearances, that their GREATEST ambition is for both to be World Champions at the same time. They live for that wish.

**************************************

The "INJURY"! You say you went through the "documented evidence of the numerous injuries to Vitaly Klitschko" ... And...LO and BEHOLD, you hi-light MY comments just sent in yesterday. Then as evidence of the "many" injuries, you print a link wwwboxingscene.com which, when read PROPERLY, says exactly what I'VE said repeatedly "there was only ONE injury".

First the pull-up shows a report of his "pulled left leg muscle" which normally should take about 3 weeks to heal. (Actually it was supposed to have been his THIGH muscle, and there was NO pressure interfering with his thigh muscle healing, since the later CAT Scan showed no muscle tear. Klitschko tried to rationalise it by saying he'd felt a pain when he was out "jogging". (I recall the hundreds of fans scoffing at ANYONE pulling a muscle jogging- it was impossible) It was actually something else wrong.

That your own hi-light says the date hadn't been rescheduled. True, and that's what I've ALWAYS said, that it was HOPED to be in June, but NOTHING booked, arranged advertised or contracted. So where am I wrong??

Next, the back surgery.... Does anyone want to fill in the reason he didn't fight in June and was having back surgery??? David??? Anyone?? it was published openly several times in the usual boxing sites, and on TV. I heard Klitschko ( or maybe his brother) himself explain how he found it wasn't a thigh muscle tear, so some others must have heard it too.

This happened. Because the supposed "thigh muscle tear" wasn't healing as it should have, the speculative date was pushed back to July. (The THIRD postponment-as David says) So not being dumbells, they suspected something else, and he had a CAT SCAN. This showed that he had NOT torn a thigh muscle, but the cause of the thigh pain was a compressed branch of the sciatic nerve which went from his spine to his thigh. This pressure was at his spine, caused by a normally occurring spinal bone overgrowth which grew so that it squeezed the sciatic nerve branch. The sciatic nerve running down the back is a huge nerve, I'm told over an inch thick, and offshoots go to all parts of the body. The higher the leg pain, the higher in the spine the pressure is, and the lower the pain, the lower the disc or spine area is.

LET ME RE-EMPHASIZE FOR DAVID, that this was NOT an injury but a NATURAL body event. Some get them, some don't.

I should say here that I've had this lousy thing, and also a ruptured disc(twice). The nerve pressure effects are very similar (and can be real HELL). I was surprised to Iearn that the knobby spine we can feel on our backs, is NOT the spine itself. The REAL spine may be at least 2 inches in, depending on your musclature and fat. The operations are identical except that in K's case when they went in through a layer of fat and 2-3 layers of criss-crossed muscle they just had to clip away and smooth off the offending bone spike. Used a clippers not a saw.

It's a minor operation, in a way, because it only takes roughly 1 hour. But its major in the recovery time. And it's got to be done RIGHT. Especially for a fighter who needs to prepare for a fight. So, the pressure went and, PRESTO. This was all explained in news reports (sometimes garbled but sometimes right I see that David got one of the garbled ones) and in fact LARRY MERCHANT DISCUSSED IT FULLY ON TV. He explained that because of all the talk going around, he'd actually spoken personally to the surgeon who'd performed the operation.

There was a huge outcry from the King-Rahman camp. They said that Klitschko was a coward, he was afraid of Rahman, he was faking it. I don't know what the hell the DIDN'T say. They even threw in a "report" that Klitschko had been knocked down by his sparring partner, a prelim fighter. (although that maybe came later-not sure at this time distance).

So, as David's nicely printed-up hi-light shows, The fight was re-arranged to September. In the meantime King got clever as usual. He pressured his pals in the WBC to allow Rahman to fight in August for an "interim title". Who did he pick but his close, close buddy, Monte Barrett, who nice guy as he is, could have been eaten alive by Klitschko. The Klitschko camp complained that if this August fight went ahead, then they wouldn't be able to hold the September fight. Also an INTERIM CHAMP got 45% instead of maybe 25-30%-a big difference. Both King and Rahman said...and this was published on several news outlets, that Rahman would still be ready to go in September as there was over 6 weeks between to two dates. I heard them on a TV boxing night , can't remember which one. King ALEADY knew that Rahman would win. And...as we all know, it was the worst stinker of a fight in living memory. Nothing more was ever said about the September fight. What David says may be the reason. It was finally arranged for November, and as we all know, Klitschko and his sparring partner entangled their legs and K fell badly, completely breaking his internal cartilage/bone connector between his thigh and calf. situated behind the kneecap. It's about an inch thick, so there'd be no QUICK HEALING here. It has a medical name which was published many times, I've just forgotten it. Maybe that's when King said that K had been knocked down by a prelim fighter and was faking it because he knew he was no match for Rahman. Recovery time was uncertain, maybe 6 months maybe a year? A hell of a long time anyway.

So.......through all this laborious simplistic stuff above, it should be obvious EVEN TO my friend David (and I do mean-my friend) that this last knee injury, was really the ONLY injury of the lot. He had NO thigh muscle tear, the spinal bony overgrowth was natural, and Rahman couldn't or wouldn't fight in September.

Yes, there were postponments, but there were NO fixed dates, except the first and the last dates. The rest were purely speculations based on usual healing time, arena availability,TV exposure, advertizing, printing tickets, CONTRACT SIGNING,undercard arrangements, and much more that goes into a major boxing tournament. NONE of this was EVER done,except for the first and last dates.

So where the hell does that leave us? It just leaves me with a headache for which I'll take the usual liquid remedy. I hope I never have to do this again.

[edgarg]

After all that SERIOUS stuff David I don't want that we should be quarrelling. I'm reminded of a joke my old teacher told me when I was a kid.

Two huge men were facing the judge for "disturbing the peace". the guy (soft as a little lamb) explained it like this. "We weren't fighting your Honour Oh no,no, no !! We're friends you see. What happened was that at work, I tripped over a plank and bumped into me friend. Then he accidentally dropped his bag of tools on me toes, and there I was hopping around, and, in me pain, just gently grazed his shins. Well your honour, before we knew where we was, we was quarrellin".

Nearly as bad as the Rahman-Barrett fight eh?

[j]

edgarg - very nice posts. i don't always feels like posting facts when they are skewered, perhaps intentionally in some instances - as they are in most cases regarding the klitschkos'.

in the last two days alone, i found at least half a dozen "supposed facts" that were basically a combination of selective memorization or fictionalization.


BTW, i don't see there being much of a problem with a joint unification. i see vitali, if he fights for a belt and wins it, retiring shortly afterwards so that his brother can fully take over.

[Run]

Yeah Wlad should fight Chagaev next for the WBA belt.



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