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As the nineties ended and Lennox Lewis, that decade’s heavyweight king, got progressively longer in the tooth, Lewis’s trainer, Emanuel Steward, would proclaim that 1996 Olympic gold medalist Wladimir Klitschko was the future of boxing’s marquee division.
By the time the first decade in the next millennium was halfway over, Klitschko’s career would see him teetering on the fringes of contention, in desperate need of salvation, a far cry from his place in the sport just five years prior.
Back in 2000, despite a blotch on his record from a 1998 loss to journeyman measuring stick Ross Purrity, Klitschko’s career would peak triumphantly with a unanimous decision victory over future IBF titlist Chris Byrd.
The win gave Klitschko the WBO belt that Wladimir’s brother Vitali had lost to Byrd just six months prior, and as Lewis began entering the ring less often, Wlad’s coronation was underway.
Klitschko defended his championship by rolling off five consecutive technical knockouts, stopping Derrick Jefferson, Charles Shufford, Frans Botha, Ray Mercer and Jameel McCline, and entering 2003 Wladimir was being avoided like the plague by possible opponents. Desperate to continue spotlighting their heir apparent, the matchmakers found Corrie Sanders, a part-time South African boxer who seemed more concerned in moonlighting as a golfer.
Sanders, though, possessed deceptively fast hands and considerable power, and an overconfident Klitschko would taste the canvas twice before the first round was over. Lacking the instinct to hold on, Wladimir would go down twice more and never make it out of round two, and the bubble had burst.
The remainder of the year was dedicated to rebuilding, and Klitschko did his part by taking out tomato cans Fabio Moli and Danell Nicholson. By April of 2004, Sanders had been stripped of the WBO belt due to inactivity, but was scheduled to face Vitali for the WBC title, newly vacated after Lewis finally announced his retirement. Two weeks prior to Vitali’s bout with Sanders, though, Wladimir would get a chance to regain the WBO trinket against Lamon Brewster. If Wlad could do away with Brewster and Vitali could gain revenge for his brother on Corrie Sanders, then the Ukrainian towers would finally achieve their dreams of simultaneously holding world championships. [details]
By the time the first decade in the next millennium was halfway over, Klitschko’s career would see him teetering on the fringes of contention, in desperate need of salvation, a far cry from his place in the sport just five years prior.
Back in 2000, despite a blotch on his record from a 1998 loss to journeyman measuring stick Ross Purrity, Klitschko’s career would peak triumphantly with a unanimous decision victory over future IBF titlist Chris Byrd.
The win gave Klitschko the WBO belt that Wladimir’s brother Vitali had lost to Byrd just six months prior, and as Lewis began entering the ring less often, Wlad’s coronation was underway.
Klitschko defended his championship by rolling off five consecutive technical knockouts, stopping Derrick Jefferson, Charles Shufford, Frans Botha, Ray Mercer and Jameel McCline, and entering 2003 Wladimir was being avoided like the plague by possible opponents. Desperate to continue spotlighting their heir apparent, the matchmakers found Corrie Sanders, a part-time South African boxer who seemed more concerned in moonlighting as a golfer.
Sanders, though, possessed deceptively fast hands and considerable power, and an overconfident Klitschko would taste the canvas twice before the first round was over. Lacking the instinct to hold on, Wladimir would go down twice more and never make it out of round two, and the bubble had burst.
The remainder of the year was dedicated to rebuilding, and Klitschko did his part by taking out tomato cans Fabio Moli and Danell Nicholson. By April of 2004, Sanders had been stripped of the WBO belt due to inactivity, but was scheduled to face Vitali for the WBC title, newly vacated after Lewis finally announced his retirement. Two weeks prior to Vitali’s bout with Sanders, though, Wladimir would get a chance to regain the WBO trinket against Lamon Brewster. If Wlad could do away with Brewster and Vitali could gain revenge for his brother on Corrie Sanders, then the Ukrainian towers would finally achieve their dreams of simultaneously holding world championships. [details]