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Appreciate the dominance of the Klitschkos
October, 25, 2010Oct 253:37PM ETEmail Print Comments60 Heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko has not been remotely challenged since 2005. The last time was when he suffered three knockdowns against Samuel Peter in a title elimination match that Klitschko ultimately won via clear decision. In his next fight, Klitschko pounded poor Chris Byrd into oblivion to win a title and has since made nine defenses -- as many as the prime Mike Tyson made -- including last month's 10th-round destruction of Peter in a rematch.
During his reign, Klitschko has beaten everyone put in front of him, unified two belts and gone the distance just once (same number of times as Tyson), a shutout decision against Sultan Ibragimov in a unification fight. Klitschko makes his opponents look like they don't belong in the ring with him.
I know his fights are not overly exciting, but he wins and usually by knockout. His knockouts of Tony Thompson, Eddie Chambers, Calvin Brock and Ray Austin were of the highlight-reel variety. Lamon Brewster, Ruslan Chagaev and Hasim Rahman were simply pounded into submission.
Vitali Klitschko, the older brother and fellow heavyweight champion, is equally dominant, even at age 39. Since his dramatic, cut-induced loss to then-champion Lennox Lewis in 2003, he has been untouchable. He is 9-0 with seven knockouts since the Lewis fight, a period of time that included a nearly four-year retirement because of injuries. Since returning in 2008, he has actually looked better than he did before he retired. He smashed Peter in eight one-sided rounds to reclaim his old belt in his first fight out of retirement and has made five defenses. He probably has not legitimately lost a round in any of those fights against Juan Carlos Gomez (TKO9), Cristobal Arreola (TKO10), Kevin Johnson (W12), Albert Sosnowski (KO10) and Shannon Briggs (W12).
Granted, this era of heavyweight challengers is poor, but the dominance of the brothers is unquestionable. Yet, they are constantly disparaged, which I don't get. I hear all the time about how their fights are boring. How they "don't fight anybody." That they fight only in Europe.
After Vitali put Briggs in the hospital Oct. 16, promoter Lou DiBella, one of the great ranters in the sport today, called me to go off on the brothers, echoing each of those sentiments.
And yet when I raised the question of "who should they fight," DiBella was quiet for once. I pressed him. He had no answer. And neither does anyone else.
It is not as though the brothers -- good guys out of the ring, too, by the way -- are ducking anyone. (And, no, not fighting each other doesn't count, because I don't blame them for not fighting each other.) On the contrary. Unlike, say, Floyd Mayweather Jr., the brothers seek out the best possible opponents regularly.
But paper titleholder David "The Ducker" Haye has run from them both with Usain Bolt-like speed, even after he had a signed contract to fight Wladimir and had agreed to fight Vitali. Alexander Povetkin was Wladimir's mandatory for two years, and when the fight was finally set for September, with Povetkin to get a career-high $2 million-plus payday, trainer Teddy Atlas convinced him to withdraw because he did not believe he was ready for that kind of tough fight. Tomasz Adamek figures to get his shot at one of them next year, but does anyone give the former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champ a remote chance of winning?
So I ask again: Who should the brothers fight?
Vitali fought Briggs because there was nobody else to face and, at least, as a former champion with a big mouth, he brought some attention to the fight.
Wladimir next will fight unbeaten, and relatively untested, Dereck Chisora of England on Dec. 11. Again, it's not the greatest matchup, but who else should he fight? At least when Wladimir knocks out Chisora, it will take away a potential British opponent for Haye to try to fight.
The Klitschkos are rolling through challengers at an alarming rate because they also are as active as any heavyweight champs have been in recent history. So should they just slow down or not fight because the competition is weak? That's ridiculous. This is their job. They enjoy what they do and they make big money doing it.
They should fight as often as they can and make as much money as they can by continuing to clean out the remnants of the division until somebody beats them.
The fact that the Klitschkos fight mainly in Europe is ridiculous to complain about as well. Although they both have fought several times in the United States, they pack arenas on a regular basis in Germany, where they are adored. Why take less money to fight in the United States when there isn't an opponent worth traveling for? When there was, Arreola, for example, Vitali came to Los Angeles. No problem.
Wladimir was willing to fight Haye in England, but it was Haye's people who blew the stadium deal they had promised.
The Klitschkos, whether you like their fighting style or not, are in the midst of a historic run. Two brothers dominating the heavyweight division is unprecedented, and there is no serious competition on the horizon.
While they are willing to face all comers, I appreciate their dominance. It's a hard thing to keep up, yet they have done it, year after year after year.
At least two people besides me also appreciate what they're doing.
Ivaylo Gotzev, who manages Peter and Briggs, has been on the bad end of four fights against the brothers, three with Peter and one with Briggs.
"There is the Klitschko heavyweight division and there is the rest of the heavyweights in another division," Gotzev said. "It's clear to me having challenged them as a manager four times that I can speak to this out of experience. It's one thing to judge them because maybe they don't have the most exciting style, but they have the style to rule the division. They are supreme athletes. They are not matched by anyone in heavyweight boxing. They are in a league of their own."
Promoter Dan Goossen has seen the brothers topple his three heavyweight contenders -- Thompson, Chambers and Arreola.
"There is no one there who will beat them at this point," said Goossen, who admitted that he'd love to promote them in the United States. "It's going to be very, very difficult for any heavyweight today to beat them, especially the smaller heavyweights. You've got to be a smart, smart heavyweight to compete with them, too, because they are so smart inside that ring. It will take more than brute strength. You can't be critical of them, especially with how often they fight. They're fighting everyone out there."
Goossen would love to see Thompson get a rematch with Wladimir or get a shot at Vitali but knows it is unlikely. Still, like anyone else who goes up against the dominant brothers, he has one wish.
"One of these days," Goossen said, "I'd like to be in the winning corner against them."
It probably will be awhile before that happens for Goossen and anyone else. Like it or not, everybody just needs to get used to it.
October, 25, 2010Oct 253:37PM ETEmail Print Comments60 Heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko has not been remotely challenged since 2005. The last time was when he suffered three knockdowns against Samuel Peter in a title elimination match that Klitschko ultimately won via clear decision. In his next fight, Klitschko pounded poor Chris Byrd into oblivion to win a title and has since made nine defenses -- as many as the prime Mike Tyson made -- including last month's 10th-round destruction of Peter in a rematch.
During his reign, Klitschko has beaten everyone put in front of him, unified two belts and gone the distance just once (same number of times as Tyson), a shutout decision against Sultan Ibragimov in a unification fight. Klitschko makes his opponents look like they don't belong in the ring with him.
I know his fights are not overly exciting, but he wins and usually by knockout. His knockouts of Tony Thompson, Eddie Chambers, Calvin Brock and Ray Austin were of the highlight-reel variety. Lamon Brewster, Ruslan Chagaev and Hasim Rahman were simply pounded into submission.
Vitali Klitschko, the older brother and fellow heavyweight champion, is equally dominant, even at age 39. Since his dramatic, cut-induced loss to then-champion Lennox Lewis in 2003, he has been untouchable. He is 9-0 with seven knockouts since the Lewis fight, a period of time that included a nearly four-year retirement because of injuries. Since returning in 2008, he has actually looked better than he did before he retired. He smashed Peter in eight one-sided rounds to reclaim his old belt in his first fight out of retirement and has made five defenses. He probably has not legitimately lost a round in any of those fights against Juan Carlos Gomez (TKO9), Cristobal Arreola (TKO10), Kevin Johnson (W12), Albert Sosnowski (KO10) and Shannon Briggs (W12).
Granted, this era of heavyweight challengers is poor, but the dominance of the brothers is unquestionable. Yet, they are constantly disparaged, which I don't get. I hear all the time about how their fights are boring. How they "don't fight anybody." That they fight only in Europe.
After Vitali put Briggs in the hospital Oct. 16, promoter Lou DiBella, one of the great ranters in the sport today, called me to go off on the brothers, echoing each of those sentiments.
And yet when I raised the question of "who should they fight," DiBella was quiet for once. I pressed him. He had no answer. And neither does anyone else.
It is not as though the brothers -- good guys out of the ring, too, by the way -- are ducking anyone. (And, no, not fighting each other doesn't count, because I don't blame them for not fighting each other.) On the contrary. Unlike, say, Floyd Mayweather Jr., the brothers seek out the best possible opponents regularly.
But paper titleholder David "The Ducker" Haye has run from them both with Usain Bolt-like speed, even after he had a signed contract to fight Wladimir and had agreed to fight Vitali. Alexander Povetkin was Wladimir's mandatory for two years, and when the fight was finally set for September, with Povetkin to get a career-high $2 million-plus payday, trainer Teddy Atlas convinced him to withdraw because he did not believe he was ready for that kind of tough fight. Tomasz Adamek figures to get his shot at one of them next year, but does anyone give the former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champ a remote chance of winning?
So I ask again: Who should the brothers fight?
Vitali fought Briggs because there was nobody else to face and, at least, as a former champion with a big mouth, he brought some attention to the fight.
Wladimir next will fight unbeaten, and relatively untested, Dereck Chisora of England on Dec. 11. Again, it's not the greatest matchup, but who else should he fight? At least when Wladimir knocks out Chisora, it will take away a potential British opponent for Haye to try to fight.
The Klitschkos are rolling through challengers at an alarming rate because they also are as active as any heavyweight champs have been in recent history. So should they just slow down or not fight because the competition is weak? That's ridiculous. This is their job. They enjoy what they do and they make big money doing it.
They should fight as often as they can and make as much money as they can by continuing to clean out the remnants of the division until somebody beats them.
The fact that the Klitschkos fight mainly in Europe is ridiculous to complain about as well. Although they both have fought several times in the United States, they pack arenas on a regular basis in Germany, where they are adored. Why take less money to fight in the United States when there isn't an opponent worth traveling for? When there was, Arreola, for example, Vitali came to Los Angeles. No problem.
Wladimir was willing to fight Haye in England, but it was Haye's people who blew the stadium deal they had promised.
The Klitschkos, whether you like their fighting style or not, are in the midst of a historic run. Two brothers dominating the heavyweight division is unprecedented, and there is no serious competition on the horizon.
While they are willing to face all comers, I appreciate their dominance. It's a hard thing to keep up, yet they have done it, year after year after year.
At least two people besides me also appreciate what they're doing.
Ivaylo Gotzev, who manages Peter and Briggs, has been on the bad end of four fights against the brothers, three with Peter and one with Briggs.
"There is the Klitschko heavyweight division and there is the rest of the heavyweights in another division," Gotzev said. "It's clear to me having challenged them as a manager four times that I can speak to this out of experience. It's one thing to judge them because maybe they don't have the most exciting style, but they have the style to rule the division. They are supreme athletes. They are not matched by anyone in heavyweight boxing. They are in a league of their own."
Promoter Dan Goossen has seen the brothers topple his three heavyweight contenders -- Thompson, Chambers and Arreola.
"There is no one there who will beat them at this point," said Goossen, who admitted that he'd love to promote them in the United States. "It's going to be very, very difficult for any heavyweight today to beat them, especially the smaller heavyweights. You've got to be a smart, smart heavyweight to compete with them, too, because they are so smart inside that ring. It will take more than brute strength. You can't be critical of them, especially with how often they fight. They're fighting everyone out there."
Goossen would love to see Thompson get a rematch with Wladimir or get a shot at Vitali but knows it is unlikely. Still, like anyone else who goes up against the dominant brothers, he has one wish.
"One of these days," Goossen said, "I'd like to be in the winning corner against them."
It probably will be awhile before that happens for Goossen and anyone else. Like it or not, everybody just needs to get used to it.
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