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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - His accomplishments precede him long before he reaches the ring. • Consensus world heavyweight champion. • Thirteen successful title defenses. • Seven defenses against current or former world champions. • Unbeaten for more than nine years. • A KO winner in 50 of 62 career fights. And even at a freshly-minted age 37, he shows no signs of slowing down.
Yet somehow, Ukrainian strongman and reigning IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko remains one of the sport’s most consistently underappreciated commodities.
The 6-foot-6 slugger, last active in November, will return to action on Saturday night in Mannheim, Germany when he faces German-based Italian challenger Francesco Pianeta – the No. 13 non-belted heavyweight in the world, according to the IBO’s Top 100 computerized rankings.
The fight is getting a large dose of apathy from the mainstream boxing press, which finds itself preoccupied with the latest belligerent missives from Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the insistent claims from Robert Guerrero – who’s spent the last year goading his way into the spotlight – that he’s actually the civilized and gentlemanly alternative to “Money’s” longstanding theatrics.
Much of that can inattention can be laid at the feet of Pianeta, a heretofore anonymous 28-year-old who’s ranked no higher than seventh by any of the most significant organizations and whose highest-ranked opponent was a 47-year-old version of ex-WBC champ Oliver McCall.
Not exactly the stuff heavyweight superfights are made of.
In fact, the biggest buzz surrounding Klitschko heading into fight week had zero to do with Pianeta, and everything to do with the $23.3 million purse bid forked over by Russian-based promoter Vladimir Hryunov for a subsequent date with former Olympic gold medalist Alexander Povetkin in the summer. [Click Here To Read More]
Yet somehow, Ukrainian strongman and reigning IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko remains one of the sport’s most consistently underappreciated commodities.
The 6-foot-6 slugger, last active in November, will return to action on Saturday night in Mannheim, Germany when he faces German-based Italian challenger Francesco Pianeta – the No. 13 non-belted heavyweight in the world, according to the IBO’s Top 100 computerized rankings.
The fight is getting a large dose of apathy from the mainstream boxing press, which finds itself preoccupied with the latest belligerent missives from Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the insistent claims from Robert Guerrero – who’s spent the last year goading his way into the spotlight – that he’s actually the civilized and gentlemanly alternative to “Money’s” longstanding theatrics.
Much of that can inattention can be laid at the feet of Pianeta, a heretofore anonymous 28-year-old who’s ranked no higher than seventh by any of the most significant organizations and whose highest-ranked opponent was a 47-year-old version of ex-WBC champ Oliver McCall.
Not exactly the stuff heavyweight superfights are made of.
In fact, the biggest buzz surrounding Klitschko heading into fight week had zero to do with Pianeta, and everything to do with the $23.3 million purse bid forked over by Russian-based promoter Vladimir Hryunov for a subsequent date with former Olympic gold medalist Alexander Povetkin in the summer. [Click Here To Read More]
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