Boxing
Klitschko-Mercer Prediction

By Jim De Pierro

28.06 - If ever there was a time for Wladimir Klitschko 38-1 (35 KOs) to shine now is it as he prepares to take on Ray Mercer 30-4-1 (22 KOs) this Saturday night in Atlantic City to be broadcast live on HBO in front of an American audience. Although clearly the most deserving of a shot at the heavyweight title of any contenders fighting today, the Ukrainian giant remains somewhat of an enigma among casual American fans of the sport.

Wladimir Klitschko does not get the attention he deserves among American fans I believe for several reasons. First off his two biggest victories against name opponents Chris Byrd and Frans Botha were never televised to an American audience. I don’t think Botha is much of a fighter. In fact I would consider Botha even less dangerous a fighter than Monte Barrett or Derrick Jefferson (two other fighters that Klitschko holds victories over) but the fact remains that the White Buffalo due to the fact that he has been in the ring with Moorer, Lewis and Tyson has more name recognition than many fighters who are clearly better than him. Klitschko is also held back I believe due to the fact that he is not American. Lennox Lewis was held back for years having to beat Holyfield twice before he was recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion largely I believe because he was not American. Klitschko will probably get a chance to fight Lewis or some other future consensus champion before he is 33 like Lewis had to do but he should already have had that chance by now. There is no way that the IBF can make a credible argument that Chris Byrd should be the mandatory contender for Lewis when Wladimir Klitschko for the most part dominated the slick southpaw over the course of twelve rounds. A common criticism of the Klitschko’s is that they lack heart and that they failed in their moment of truth when faced with adversity. While such a criticism of Vitali Klitschko is valid I don’t think its fair to tar Wladimir with that brush for his loss to Ross Purrity. As my friend Steve Trellert pointed out the Klitschko-Purrity fight from all descriptions I have heard of it was more along the lines of Jefferson-Izon than Vitali Klitschko vs. Chris Byrd. I have never heard anyone accuse Derrick Jefferson of being a quitter or lacking heart. I have never been one to believe in guilt by association.

If Wladimir Klitschko really wants to fight Lewis he needs to do what no man before him has done and knock out Ray Mercer to create demand that he fight Lewis. I don’t think that Wladimir will ever do this because he strikes me as to nice of a guy but he really needs to throw down the gauntlet to Lewis and talk a little smack to make it known to the world that he thinks he is the best fighter in the world and that Lewis is ducking him. I am not suggesting that he start talking about eating children but he could do more to promote himself outside of the ring. If Wladimir Klitschko were to win Saturday night in a lackluster performance Lewis might just opt to retire if he didn’t feel there was much public demand or money to fight Klitschko. Its very possible that Klitschko’s handlers are just waiting for Lewis to retire hoping to pick up the pieces of a vacated title.

For Mercer this is a chance to make up for years of inactivity against quality opposition after being sidelined by hepatitis. Mercer is most well known for his close losses to Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. Many, and I am not one of them, claim that Mercer did enough to beat Lewis in their fight in 1996. If any fighter lives up to there nickname it is Ray Mercer. His destruction of Tommy Morrison will always stand out in my mind as one of the most brutal finishes that I have ever seen. Against lesser fighters like Jeff Peguese and Don Steele most recently Mercer still shows signs of being one of the best finishers in the sport as he sent both men out of the ring.

On paper this fight looks like it may be Klitschko’s biggest test to date as Mercer has shown himself in the past to be durable and unlike Chris Byrd has the power and enough size to be competitive with Klitschko. Mercer is certainly more of an accomplished fighter than Ross Purrity in every respect but I think the loss to Purrity was probably largely a result of inexperience by Klitschko who was 22 at the time and had only gone as far as eight rounds once before fighting being stopped by Purrity in the 11th. It is easy to dismiss Klitschko based on his one loss to Purrity but Ray Mercer is not without some shortcomings to. In his fight prior to fighting Evander Holyfield and then Lennox Lewis Mercer had fought to a 10 round draw with Marion Wilson in a fight many thought Wilson won. Wilson is not even on the caliber of Ross Purrity. Mercer was schooled by an old Larry Holmes and was upset by the likes of Jesse Ferguson whom he tried to bribe into taking a dive. In a rematch a few years later Mercer avenged the loss to Ferguson with a split decision but the fact that he had to struggle with Ferguson twice doesn’t speak to well of Mercer’s ability. Mercer’s last opponent of any significance would have been Tim Witherspoon whom he beat in a close decision in 1996. The overall picture one gets when looking at Mercer’s career is that he tends to be in close fights with elite competition but also has struggled and come up short in fights that he should have been able to win.

Having seen Mercer in his comeback fights with Peguese and Steele I didn’t see any real weaknesses but one has to consider who was in front of him. Peguese can make anyone look good. Peguese is a guy who just got KTFO by Chris Byrd in the 3rd round earlier this month. Don Steele’s nickname is the man of steel however I think he might be better called the man of paper because that is all his record is. At the time he fought Mercer his record was an intimidating 45-2 (45 KOs) at the time but a closer look at that record will show a history of fighting bottom feeders, no hopers and guys making their pro debut. Steeles other two losses came to Brian Nielson and Richie Melito whose records were almost as padded as Steeles. One factor that doesn’t bode well for Mercer is that in a fight with Bryan Scott on the under card of Tyson-Nielson, Mercer was reported to have been rocked by Scott in the first round. To what degree Mercer was in any serious trouble with Scott I don’t know but what is undisputable is that Mercer suffered a bad cut which postponed this fight originally scheduled to take place last December. This suggests to me that Mercer’s defense is not what it once was and that he will get hit a lot.

I don’t think it’s a given that even if Mercer were in his prime that he could necessarily beat Wladimir Klitschko. At 41 I don’t see how Mercer could be any better than he was in the early to mid 90’s, which would have been his prime. In pictures I have seen of Mercer lately he looks really old to me and I expect if he doesn’t enter the ring an old man he certainly will leave the ring looking old.

I am going to go out on a limb and predict that Wladimir Klitschko will be the first fighter to stop Mercer inside the distance. The first two or three rounds will be pretty boring, as they will both feel each other out. I think Mercer will have a few moments but I think he will lose just about every round before his corner or the referee stops the fight between rounds, as Wladimir Klitschko will realize as the fight goes on that Mercer is only a shell of his old self. I predict this fight will be a boring to average fight at best with Mercer getting gradually picked apart in what will almost look like a mismatch.

Wladimir Klitschko TKO 7 over Ray Mercer

 

 


Bookmark and Share

 

If you detect any issues with the legality of this site, problems are always unintentional and will be corrected with notification.
The views and opinions of all writers expressed on eastsideboxing.com do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Management.
Copyright © 2001- 2015 East Side Boxing.com - Privacy Policy