By Murali Para

01.08 - Right now Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko are almost universally rated as the 2 best heavyweights in the world. Their careers and accomplishments to date are, of course, very different indeed. With his recent demolition of the once-awesome Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis has cemented his status as the most consistent and successful heavyweight of the last 10 years. And in real terms his legacy is complete: he has fought and beaten every man he has taken on - from his generation and the next one - and there is no reason why he should not hang up his gloves if he should so wish. In my opinion, Lewis has earned his place as one of the top 10 heavyweight fighters of all time, though the disputes will rage forever as to exactly where in that list Lewis rightfully belongs. In short, Lewis is the king of the castle, and the true linear champ of the day.

There is one matter though that may well still be worth Lewis's time: fighting the Ukrainian giant
Wladimir Klitschko. In terms of his talent and his ability, Klitschko is undeniably an excellent
heavyweight. And he is at the opposite end of his career to Lewis - at 26 he is still young, has
everything to accomplish, and is widely seen as the man to replace Lennox when he retires as the world's best. In his 40 fights to date, Klitschko has only really looked vulnerable in his single loss to Ross Purity in 1998, where he was trying too hard and ran out of steam. Equally though, Wladimir has not turned in as many impressive performances as one might expect. His one-sided win over current IBF No. 1 contender Chris Byrd was, admittedly, very strong. Apart from that, the win that stands out most is his recent stoppage of Ray 'Merciless' Mercer. The manner of Klitschko's triumph here also was very convincing.

We have reached an important crossroads in the history of modern heavyweight boxing. The era beginning with a peak Tyson's demolition of Trevor Berbick in 1986 ended in June this year when Lewis masterfully overpowered a faded Tyson in 8 rounds. The era in question is of course the one dominated by the Tyson-Holyfield-Lewis triumvirate. All 3 fighters here are outstanding, and achieved great wins and significant periods of dominance over the heavyweight division. In reality, there is almost always an overlap between different generations, very often with the new guard soundly outclassing the past master (Tunney-Dempsey, Marciano-Louis, Holmes-Ali). In these fights, we are offered only a dubious comparison between the two fighters or the two generations, as the heavyweight great who loses is so far removed from their prime.

In the case of Lennox Lewis though, we have a clear exception to this trend. While Tyson and Holyfield are certainly past their best, Lewis is still fighting more or less at his peak. In my opinion, Lewis's career-best wins were Holyfield I and Rahman II, and both are recent cases of Lennox triumphing under considerable pressure. For that reason, it would be fascinating to see him take on Wladimir Klitschko, probably as his swansong. Lewis-Tyson was a world event that the public demanded to see, but Lewis-Klitschko is the fight that the boxing aficionados all want to see. After 40 fights, Wladimir has proclaimed that he and his brother "are both ready" for Lennox Lewis and, responding to some dismissive remarks made by the champ at the Michael Watson testimonial, he comments, "I would love to show him that I'm tough enough".

I was glad to learn yesterday that Lewis is in talks with Universum about meeting one of the Klitschko brothers. A fight against Wladimir Klitschko is easily the most significant match in the heavyweight division right now. We saw last weekend what Kirk Johnson produced in the title shot he'd waited 9 years for: a string of appalling low blows. Jameel McCline is another prospect, but on the strength of his tentative, walk-backward performance against an overweight Shannon Briggs, I doubt he could beat Wladimir. John Ruiz is admirable in the way he makes the most of his limited ability, but with due respect he is not a fighter who should be the linear champ. Only Lewis-Klitschko is the fight that will allow the past era of heavyweight boxing to merge seamlessly with the present.

It is very much a fight we need to see.