By Lee Groves

This past weekend featured a phenomenal sports lineup – Game 6 of Lakers-Suns, Game 1 of Flyers-Blackhawks, the Indianapolis 500, NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600, a full schedule of MLB, the French Open and UFC 114’s grudge match between Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Boxing, of course, got into the spirit by stacking the airwaves with action.

The main event of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights saw perennial super middleweight contender Librado Andrade take out 39-year-old former champ Eric Lucas in what likely will be the French-Canadian’s final fight.

On a pair of Saturday pay-per-views, Vitali Klitschko took out Albert Sosnowski in the 10th while Puerto Ricans Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. and Roman Martinez retained their WBO belts by stopping Zsolt Bedak and Gonzalo Munguia, respectively, before the home fans.

A few thousand miles to the south, the weekend’s feel-good story unfolded as 39-year-old Luis Lazarte’s championship odyssey finally struck pay dirt in his fifth attempt. The long-suffering Argentine’s buzz saw attack propelled him to a split decision over Carlos Tamara to capture the IBF junior flyweight title.

By doing so, Lazarte became the oldest man to win a share of the 108-pound belt.

On Fox Sports Espanol, the Soto Karass clan had a bad night as Jesus had a one-round no-contest against Gabriel Martinez while Jose Luis was stopped in five by Ivan Popoca.

Finally, TV Azteca aired a six-fight knockout night topped by Carlos Yanez stopping Ernesto Morales in eight for the Mexican featherweight title.

The marathon TV-watching sessions sparked several thoughts to invade the brain. Here are but just a few:

Two cheers for Sosnowski for at least trying to make a fight of it.

For the first time since Big Brother emerged from a 46-month retirement, an opponent remained engaged throughout the entire bout.

Samuel Peter looked utterly somnambulant in losing his belt to the so-called “champion emeritus” in October 2008 while Juan Carlos Gomez and Chris Arreola couldn’t sustain what little offense they generated at the start of their ill-fated challenges.

As for Kevin Johnson’s attempt last December the less said the better.

Sosnowski, on the other hand, looked bright-eyed and purposeful throughout most of the contest, which was for Klitschko’s WBC heavyweight title.

His lateral movement disrupted the champion’s rhythm and made it difficult for him to find his ideal punching range. The 45-2-1 (27 KO) Pole even got in a few flush shots to the face from time to time and one right appeared to stun Klitschko for the briefest of moments.

That’s big news against Klitschko because in his last two fights he was so dominant that he had racked up 657 out of a combined 660 points on the judges’ scorecards.

Despite Sosnowski's sporadic success, Klitschko still held a commanding lead. When Sosnowski’s batteries finally began to run low in the ninth, it didn’t take long for the champion to close the show. Two booming rights at the end of the ninth and three sledgehammer crosses in the 10th sealed the challenger’s fate.

In the end, Klitschko did what great champions do – find a way to win even when everything doesn’t go his way.

For Klitschko in recent fights, that meant not dominating every second of every round. For his part, Sosnowski behaved admirably as a challenger. He may not have had the skill set to break through the heavyweight division’s Iron Curtain but he did manage to surpass the exceedingly low expectations and put forth an honorable effort.

In the era of Klitschko, that’s more than we usually get.

The elder Klitschko’s remarkable comeback sparks thoughts of what might have been.

The 38-year-old Klitschko’s return to prominence following such a long retirement has to rank among the most amazing feats in the sport’s history. Five consecutive victories over fighters with a combined record of 168-4-2 and regaining a major belt the first fight back should erase any doubts about his worthiness for enshrinement in Canastota.

Given his dominance, one cannot help but speculate what “Dr. Ironfist” would have achieved had he not suffered the chronic training injuries that made him call it quits.

My answer: Not only would he have become Lennox Lewis’ logical successor as the world’s best big man, he would have piled up enough numbers to lay claim to legend status.

Big words? Absolutely. But before firing off half-cocked e-mails hear me out.

Then, at least, you can fire off full-cocked e-mails.

During Klitschko’s WBO reign between June 1999 and April 2001 he had four title fights, which averages out to one every 5.5 months. His second title run encompassed four fights between June 2003 (his TKO loss to Lennox Lewis) and December 2004 (his eight-round TKO of Danny Williams). That meant one fight every 4.5 months, which might have been even shorter had Klitschko not suffered a wretched gash over his left eye in the Lewis loss.

Klitschko’s current run of five fights in 19 months – one every 3.8 months – is hyperactive given today’s two-fight-per-year schedule followed by most other superstars.

Given all of this information one can reasonably surmise that an uninterrupted career could have yielded historic numbers.

His three title runs encompassed 13 fights in 59 months, which averages out to one fight every 4.5 months. Since Klitschko suffered injuries requiring layoffs during two of them, one can reasonably say that Klitschko would have followed at least a three-fight-per-year schedule had he been healthy between December 2004 and October 2008.

Given his current rate of activity and health at age 38, one could also say that he was capable of four defenses every year, though that admittedly would be ambitious.

Had he logged a successful defense every four months, he would have registered 11 more title defenses (three in 2005, 2006 and 2007 plus two coming into October 2008). But had he adhered to the accelerated schedule that figure would swell to 14 (four in 2005, 2006 and 2007 plus two going into October 2008).

Wow.

Here’s more: Had Klitschko been healthy throughout his WBC title reign that began with his eighth round TKO over Corrie Sanders in April 2004, the Sosnowski victory would have been his 17th defense had he followed the three-fight-per-year schedule and his 20th had he managed four per year.

Add in defenses during his WBO reign and that total would be either 19 or 22 in two reigns.

In other words, not only would Klitschko have been boxing’s longest reigning current champion, he would be nearing one of the most sacred records in the sport’s history – Joe Louis’ 25 heavyweight title defenses – a record I recently declared unbreakable.

At the time of the Williams fight, Big Brother was earning substantial fan support in America. His brave stand against Lewis at the Staples Center virtually erased the “quitter” label he acquired following the Chris Byrd loss and all three of his subsequent fights built on that momentum as he stopped Kirk Johnson at Madison Square Garden, Sanders at Staples and Williams at Mandalay Bay.

Americans love dominant knockout artists and given the reception he received after each fight by fans and media it appeared Klitschko was becoming that rare international fighter capable of stardom in the U.S. His European bloodlines might have actually enhanced his mystique as a heavyweight destroyer and this surely would have been used as a springboard toward endorsement deals in the States.

Perhaps this appeal would have rubbed off on younger brother Wladimir, who always had been regarded as the more fluid athlete.

It was not to be, for Big Brother’s multiple pullouts before retirement aborted his bout with Hasim Rahman and Little Brother’s fragility and subsequent safety-first approach effectively killed the Klitschko brand in America.

It is safe to say, however, that had events turned out differently boxing fans worldwide would have been much more satisfied with the state of the post-Lewis heavyweight division because at least they would have been witnessing history.

If the field of contenders performed like Johnathon Banks did against Jason Gavern on the Klitschko-Sosnowski undercard, the Klitschkos would probably reign forever.

Banks, a 27-year-old based in Detroit, entered Saturday’s fight with a sparkling 24-1 (17 KO) record and a ranking in two major sanctioning bodies. His most recent fight before Saturday’s, also held in Germany, was a bizarre delayed-action sixth round TKO of Travis Walker that earned him the vacant NABF title and his match with the durable but limited 19-7-3 journeyman was supposed to bolster his credentials for an eventual world title shot.

Weighing a career-high 226 lbs., Banks instead personified everything that is wrong with today’s heavyweight crop. The flab on his upper body matched the state of his technique as he chose to brawl with the less-talented Gavern and initiated the lion’s share of the numerous clinches.

If ever there was such a thing as Greco-Roman boxing, this was it as they put forth a thoroughly distasteful display of the “Sweet Science.”

It is a sad state of affairs that referee Juergen Langos appeared more athletic than either of the combatants. He needed every bit of his conditioning as he had to constantly pry the fighters apart.

Each man was assessed point penalties; Gavern for shoving Banks to the canvas in the sixth and Banks for excessive holding in the seventh. Perhaps all the activity dulled Langos’ senses as he missed a knockdown by Banks in the eighth from a hook to the jaw and failed to warn Banks about repeated rabbit punches.

The normally patient and tolerant German crowd began whistling by the end of the fourth and sat in stony silence until the final bell. Once the fight ended, the throng emitted an appropriately explosive mix of whistles and boos that reverberated around the cavernous Veltins Arena.

This fight was so awful that it should be used to force answers out of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay.

By the ninth, Banks’ superior talent finally bubbled to the surface while Gavern’s subpar conditioning got the best of him. The nondescript action over the first seven rounds cost Banks dearly as the bout was judged a majority draw.

The result – as well as the worldwide exposure this bout received - damaged Banks’ reputation as a future title challenger while enhancing Gavern’s credentials as an expert survivor.

The flashes of ability Banks showed in the late stages proves that he is capable of far more than he showed against Gavern. The answer to his problems should be obvious – lose at least 15 pounds and work harder at his craft. At age 27, an attitude overhaul may be difficult to pull off but if he wants to compete with the Hayes and the Klitschkos of the world he’ll need to do just that – and the sooner the better.

And now for something completely different…

In response to last week’s column about boxing’s unbreakable records, one e-mailer offered the following statistical anomaly that he said would never be equaled.

“How about Roberto Duran scoring a knockout in every round – 1 through 15?”

A check of the record revealed the truth – Duran fell just short of the mark. He had a knockout in every round except for the ninth.

The reader had good reason to believe Duran had achieved this distinction. According to my copies of the 1979 and 1985 Ring Record Book and Boxing Encyclopedia Duran scored a ninth round knockout over Emiliano Villa on July 31, 1976 but Boxrec.com listed it as a seventh round KO. To settle the conflict I went to the ultimate tiebreaker – videotape. The footage proved Boxrec correct and thus Duran is denied the mark.

For the record, here’s the breakdown of Duran’s knockouts by round:

Round 1: Juan Gondola (fight one), Manuel Jimenez, Eduardo Morales, Enrique Jacobo, Leroy Carghill, Ulises De Leon, Carlos Howard, Marvin Castaneda, Jose Acosta, Benny Huertas, Panchito Munoz, Greg Potter, Lupe Ramirez, Adalberto Vanegas, Masataka Takayama, Andres Salgado, Jose Peterson, Pepe El Toro, Alvaro Rojas, Bernardo Diaz and Ariel Cruz.

Round 2: Juan Gondola (fight two), Gerardo Ferrat, Jose Vazquez, Ezequiel Obando, Manuel Zambrano, Jorge Suero and Ken Hulsey.

Round 3: Ignacio Castaneda, Fermin Soto, Tony Garcia, Armando Mendoza and Alirio Acuna.

Round 4: Alberto Brand, Jacinto Garcia, Leonard Tavarez, Josef Nsubuga, Pipino Cuevas, Terry Thomas and Wilbur Garst.

Round 5: Serafin Garcia and Jimmy Robertson.

Round 6: Clemente Musino, Jose Angel Herrera, Lloyd Marshall, Wellington Wheatley, Paul Thorn, Sean Fitzgerald and Mike Culbert.

Round 7: Adolfo Osses, Hiroshi Kobayashi, Juan Medina, Flash Gallego, Heath Todd, Roni Martinez and Emiliano Villa.

Round 8: Luis Patino, Hector Thompson, Monroe Brooks, Davey Moore and Tony Menefee.

Round 9: None.

Round 10: Ernesto Marcel and Ishimatsu “Guts” Suzuki.

Round 11: Esteban DeJesus (second fight).

Round 12: Esteban DeJesus (third fight).

Round 13: Ken Buchanan and Vilomar Fernandez.

Round 14: Ray Lampkin and Lou Bizarro.

Round 15: Leoncio Ortiz.

On another subject, one poster cited Wilfredo Gomez’s 17 consecutive knockouts in title defenses, which, broke the record of 10 held by – drum roll, please – Roberto Duran.

E-mail Lee Groves at lgroves@hughes.net

To purchase Lee Groves’ new book “Tales from the Vault: A Celebration of 100 Boxing Closet Classics” visit www.amazon.com or https://www.createspace.com/3418039