No Pulse Wladimir?

By Steve Trellert

23.06 - There seems to be two main schools of thought amongst boxing writers and commentators regarding WBO Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko. One school states that Wladimir has never had a real gut check where he has faced adversity and demonstrated heart and courage to get out of it. While the second school states that he already has against Ross Puritty and failed. The latter school of thought seems to think Wladimir a bit of a paper tiger, who would put up about as much resistance as a tent full of fresh meat before a grizzly, or the Bush daughters to a bottle of tequila. Not so as the evidence will shortly bear (excuse the pun) out.

Wladimir Klitschko's fight with Ross Puritty seems to somehow stand out as the archetype of Wladimir's boxing heart amongst those who tend to denigrate him. My guess is that most of these critics have not actually seen the fight and have only listened to hearsay. For those of you who have not seen the fight, there was a virtual equivalent shown on HBO a few years back. Remember the Derrick Jeffeson versus David Izon fight on the Roy Jones/David Telesco undercard? Well, Jefferson was Wladimir and Izon was Puritty. In almost identical fashion, Wladimir knocked Puritty from pillar to post and dominated him until the very end, where like Jefferson, he ran out of gas and had nothing left to give. It was not Wladimir who quit, but his corner who threw in the towel. Wladimir Klitschko had given it his all but failed to pace himself correctly. A bad mistake, but one understandable for a fighter who was but 22 years old and trying to impress his hometown of Kiev, Ukraine and knockout a guy who's chin was not going anywhere. Was Derrick Jefferson considered a coward after his similar loss to Izon? No! Instead Jefferson was regarded as an unblemished warrior despite that loss. Now of course some may say that Jefferson has demonstrated his heart previous times before whereas Klitschko did not. Let us see.

How about the first school who claims his heart has never been tested? Well, in the ring this is somewhat true but is it Wladimir's fault that he has been so dominant against the opposition he has faced? Clearly not, and by the way he has the best resume of victories, besides Lennox Lewis, amongst the top ten heavyweights today (in the last five years) so criticism of his opposition can be dismissed. If that is unconvincing how about his actions outside of the ring in terms of choosing opposition? An example of a lack of heart?

He fought German boxing hero Axel Shulz in his home country when he could of insisted on neutral ground and nevertheless pounded him into the ground. In Chris Byrd he fought a fighter whom all of the top flight (damn, another pun) were avoiding. In fact, forget Mike Tyson, it is Chris Byrd who appears to be the most feared boxer in the Heavyweight division. Even undeniable warrior Evander Holyfield does not want to fight him as he stated in an interview after his fight with Hasim Rahman. Tyson no problem, Byrd? Get me out of here! Did Wladimir run and hide from Byrd? No, instead he took the challenge and went on to dominate the fly boy by winning virtually every round and knocking him down twice. Of course some commentators attempted to diminish this victory by citing the weight difference of 40 pounds as a factor, or as some German conspiracy that caused Byrd's eye to swell up. If the former is true why does nobody want to fight Chris Byrd, and does that not in itself make his lighter weight irrelevant? If the latter is true, why did Chris Byrd raise his hands and clap when Wladimir's name was announced as the winner of their fight? A gesture of a deserved win is it not? No thoughts of conspiracy then, hmm must have been that jab sandwich he was eating all night.

Now Wladimir Klitschko moves on to fight another avoided fighter in 'Merciless' Ray Mercer. Anyone who saw Ray fight Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis can see why. In big fights Mercer gives no quarter and literally has no mercy as Tommy Morrison can attest. Now of course it has been five years since Ray has been at that level so he is a bit of an unknown quantity, but it cannot be denied that he still has an iron chin and a deadly punch. Those factors as well as the fact that Mercer is hovering around age 40 make this fight risky for Wladimir in terms of a cost/benefit analysis. If he wins he beat an old man, if he loses he lost to an old man. Sounds like a no win situation that a person with no heart would surely avoid.

For those obstinate about Wladimir's lack of pulse, this fight will not satisfy the question at hand, but for those of a more balanced and neutral character some satisfaction is likely to occur. Ray Mercer's chin is legendary and we all know that Wladimir is highly likely to be pushed to the distance. The longer the fight, the greater the chance of adversity for Dr. Klitschko. The additional fact that Mercer is an efficient finisher and can punch should also allow us to finally get a look at Wladimir's chin. Irrespective of the outcome, the naysayers will continue to circle like vultures, but their position will become even more so of what it currently is, largely untenable.

If you have any comments you would like to make regarding this article, either click "comments" below, or email me personally at Vancanste@aol.com