By Fred De La Riva

16.12 - Recently, Ukranian born Wladimir Klitschko's introduction to "big time," boxing, (no pun intended), proved to be a big success. On one side of the ring you had Klitschko, methodically breakdown his opponent not only by skill and strength, but also through pure intimidation. One could argue that Klitschko had the fight won when the fighters met at mid-ring, judging from the look of distress on McCline's face. As the fight entered the middle rounds it was obvious that the two fighters were at different levels of class and development. Klitschko fought a very intelligent fight. He punched in spurts, adjusted his defense when he had to and was able to systematically beat his opponent into submission.

By the end of the 10th, McCline was a beaten man and chose to concede to the fighter that many are picking to succeed Lennox Lewis. In fact, though the techniques of Lewis and Klitschko are somewhat different, they both generally don't destroy their opponents by throwing wild punches. Both fighters instead choose to fight somewhat cautiously and there's nothing wrong with that, except for one thing.

It's downright boring.

Trust me. I've seen plenty of boxing and have come to realize that there are fighters who regardless of their talent just don't put "butts in the seats" because of their persona, technique, etc. This is not a jab at Wlad in any way shape or fashion. That's just the way it is. We all know eventually that either "time" or Klitschko will ultimately dethrone Lennox Lewis. So he has a tremendous responsibility to carry the heavyweight division and boxing for the next decade. With that said, here are my suggestions to help him transform from being a "European" star to a worldwide one.

Show some vulnerability

To date, Klitschko has shown very little flaws in terms of his technique. His offense is downright
devastating and he has a formidable defense. Mind you he is no Pernell Whitaker, but has managed to use his size to his best defensive advantage.

The result has been that most of Klitschko's fight has been one-sided events. This well and good to the hardcore Klitschko fans, but I can assure that the general boxing public won't jump on the bandwagon.

What he needs to do is keep fighting the top opposition. Sooner or later a weakness will be exposed. Whether it is susceptibility to speed or to the right hand doesn't really matter. The general public needs to that there is a chance that he can be beaten. Maybe he'll prove to have a weak chin. Look what a weak chin did to Lewis's career. Though he still has a cautious and somewhat boring style, there is always the chance that he will get knocked out.

Reinvent Himself

What boxing needs now is a character and to put it mildly Klitschko's personality is bland. Yes I know he is described as polite, articulate, educated, and so on, but ok now what?

He is not expected to become say a Muhammad Ali, who was probably the most charismatic fighter ever, but becoming a Larry Holmes is not out of reach. To put it bluntly, people hated Larry. He was as talented as they come, but he managed to insult the press, Rocky Marciano and even beat up an aging Ali. Believe me the fans came to see him lose and were glad when Michael Spinks finally did it back in 1985.

Most recently, Prince Naseem Hamed captured the boxing public's imagination with his extravagant ring entrances and his cockiness. He wasn't as arrogant as a Roy Jones, so people were drawn to his character.

Can Wladimir do this? Of course he can, but whatever he does must be true to his personality. Maybe he can play of his Russian heritage and antagonize the American public. I'm sure they'll flock to the arenas to see the "Commie Bastard" get his.

Brawl Selectively

It is no accident that last night's battle between Chris Byrd and Evander Holyfield had a packed arena. You see most fans are drawn to brawlers. They weren't there to see Byrd's mastery of the boxing game. They were there to see Holyfield's ability to slug it out with his opponent. He did with Mike Tyson, Bert Cooper and Riddick Bowe. As a fan I can appreciate the talents of a Pernell Whitaker, but I sure won't make it a habit to buy tickets to his fights.

Think about it. Who are arguably the most exciting fighters of the last ten years?

Mickey Ward.

Arturo Gatti.

Julio Cesar Chavez.

Mike Tyson,

All brawlers.

Wladimir is lucky that is he is fighting at a time where the crop of good heavyweights is slim. This is
not the 70's or even early to mid 90's, where there was an abundance of good opponents, so he can take a risk and slug it out when the time is right. And to tell you the truth the time is now because the public wants to be entertained. So whether they hate you or you thrill them with gritty boxing action, they'll come and the result will be good for boxing.

Feel free to contact the writer at reevee@earthlink.com