Elder Klitschko sets his aims at Cedric Boswell, then Lewis

By Ron Widelec

09.05 - After Mike Tyson pulled out of the Lewis/Johnson undercard, the June 21st night of boxing was looking a little light. To remedy this, 250 pounds of Vitali Klitschko has been brought in to add some excitement to the situation. After some discussion, it now looks like he will face Cedric Boswell. This announcement has been received with mixed reviews.

From the perspective of Lennox Lewis (40-2), the true heavyweight champion, the move is brilliant. Vitali Klitschko is the WBC mandatory challenger, and was most likely going to be Lewis' next opponent. Bringing Vitali on beefs up the June 21st fight card, and will almost certainly lead to increased viewers. In return Vitali gets a guaranteed title shot in Lewis' next fight, which isn't much of a concession because Lewis was probably going to fight Vitali anyway, and having the two on the same card in June will add some extra publicity to boot.

Although this move is extremely logical, I must admit, I was taken a bit by surprise. Vitali Klitschko has previously treated American television like the plague. Although many fans have heard of Vitali, very few have actually seen him fight. He usually sticks to European fights that never get aired on television in the States. It will be nice to finally see Vitali make a showing on a major American fight card.

However, Vitali's choice of opponents still reeks of the old Vitali. Vitali (32-1) has become the WBC mandatory challenger by beating a long line of decent opponents, but has yet to beat a serious top contender. This is not to say that Vitali is not a solid contender, but his mandatory ranking is dubious at best. His best wins come over Larry Donald and Vaughn Bean, hardly anything to get excited over.

Cedric Boswell is no step up in competition. Cedric Boswell may have a record of 21-0, with 16 knockouts, but he has never been in the ring with any top level opposition. In fact, he has never been in the ring with any B-level, or even C-level opposition. The best fighter on his resume is Talmadge Griffis. Boswell may be a good fighter, but without anything close to real opposition, or a big-time fight, he is going to be in way over his head. Boswell has been pro since 1994, and has only taken 21 fights, and has never made a move towards a serious challenge. In essence, he is little more than a coddled fighter and a good record to add to Vitali's resume.

For those that expressed joy that Vitali was facing Boswell, and claimed that his is an improvement in opposition, you really need to check this guys record with a bit more scrutiny. Yes, he is 21-0, but he has only beaten seven fighters that have over 10 fights and a winning record. That's one less than the number of fighters he has beaten with three fights or less. The only fight that looks truly impressive on his record is his last fight, which was against Jim Strohl, who was 25-1 at the time. However, looks can be deceiving; Strohl has only beaten two fighters with a winning record and only one of them had more than ten fights.

The real questions is whose fault is this? Can you blame Vitali? If the WBC is going to let him "earn" a number one contender position without beating a real contender, why would anyone risk everything now, when a title shot is on the line. This is the same WBC that ranked Tyson number one after he fought a string of weak opposition, and the same WBC that claims a "moral high ground" in not sanctioning the Lewis/Johnson fight, because Johnson is only the number 8 contender. With hypocrisy like this, its a wonder the WBC isn't bankrupt. Oh wait..... Maybe there is some truth to karma.

On a completely unrelated note…

Recently on a certain boxing site, we'll call it boxingcrap.net, a certain light heavyweight titleholder, decided to visit a chat room and talk with some fans. However, what they didn't let anyone know was that criticizing this fighter, even if done so without being rude, will get you booted from the room. I guess this unnamed fighter let it be known that he would not come to this site anymore if they allowed anyone that didn't think he was great. The comments that led to my being banned from room were as follows:

"I think Roy Jones is way out of Tarver's league", "Could Tarver have looked much worse in the Griffin fight" and "I seem to remember Harding spanking Tarver until Tarver landed one lucky punch". After this, I was banned without explanation. It seems to me that a boxing site should allow for free opinions, as long as nothing vulgar is said, and should remain unbiased. I'll let you figure out who the fighter was and what site boxingcrap.net stands for.

Any questions or comments. E-mail me at Beowolf88@aol.com