The heavyweights are just so huge…
By Janne Romppainen
12.03 - As the news from Corrie Sanders’ shocking victory over Wladimir Klitschko spread over the boxing world, many kinds of questions came up. What went wrong with the predictions of the fight? Was Klitschko just a protected fighter who folded when he tasted the first real punch? Was Sanders indeed a fringe but forgotten contender who finally got his chance and took it? And, maybe the most interesting point, is the level of heavyweight division indeed so low?
From the first look, it might look like heavyweight is in its lowest depths. Wladimir Klitschko was universally recognized being the best challenger for the champ Lennox Lewis. There were sceptics who (correctly) doubted his chances in the really big fights, but there are not too many other nominees better than him for the next king either. Then he was blasted out badly. And not only that, he was blasted out by a 37-year-old fighter who had been very inactive for couple of years and who had been knocked out himself in his last major fight. How good can a division be if this kind of things can happen?
But there is more then that in this situation. I do not think that the bad level of the division is the only reason for the fact that there are so many upsets and crosswise victories between fighters compared to the history. The heavyweight division itself has changed a lot.
When you look at today’s fighters, they are almost monster-like compared to the ones even in the eighties, not to mention earlier. A 6’6, 240lbs fighter without any surplus lard in his waist is no miracle today, there are even much bigger men. So even though the boxers are not necessarily better than the ones from the past, they are probably stronger than ever. That is why there are so many surprising knockouts. One punch can change everything as the old saying goes. Today it is more true than ever.
No matter how good a fighter is, he makes errors in the ring. In the heavyweight business one error can be one too many. All it takes is a little lack of concentration, a little sloppiness in the defence and boom, it is all over. As there are these gigantic bombers of today, the errors are even easier exploited than before. It doesn’t need a bad chin for a fighter to get knocked out by another.
There are many examples of how things have changed suddenly. There was Oleg Maskaev who knocked out Hasim Rahman in very impressive style. Maskaev was then hyped to be the most formidable of contenders. Then he was blasted out by Lance Whitaker with greatest of ease. Now it was Whitaker’s turn to be the new sensation, until he ran into Jameel McCline, who in turn had became a hot prospect with one-punch kayo over Michael Grant.
It doesn’t only happen in the lower level. We all know what happened to Lewis against Rahman. We all know also what happened in their rematch. Even though Rahman knocked Lewis senseless the first time, he wasn’t the better fighter out of the two other then that night. Lewis just got careless and that was it. Even the granite-chinned Evander Holyfield was knocked down by John Ruiz who is not notoriously great puncher. There are just no weak punchers in the division.
Of course there is the other side of the coin too. When the fighters have grown as big as they have and they can knock their opponents out with one punch, there is a danger that the fighter doesn’t bother to learn the basic skills of defence because he doesn’t need them at first. And when he finally meets an opponent who is able to test his guard, he might be in for a negative surprise. I don’t know if that was the case with Klitschko. Maybe he has a bad weakness in his defence, maybe it just happened as he wasn’t alert enough.
The main point is that the sudden and surprising knock-outs shouldn’t be as highly regarded as they are now. They are just things that happen. One knockout victory over a known opponent doesn’t change a fighter’s skills, he isn’t necessarily a great puncher. Nor does a one knockout loss automatically put the fighter out of the picture as Lewis-Rahman example clearly shows. If the fighter starts to win/lose more regularly in the same fashion, then some conclusions can be made but not before. This is a clear change compared to the past that should be kept in mind.
In my opinion the division is at pretty good level right now. It is not The Golden Seventies, but we have seen worse times. The new thing is that the outcomes of the fights are even harder to predict than ever because of the grown power of fighters. If this evaluation goes further it will probably lead to a situation where we don’t see long-reigning champions anymore but rather changing outcomes and more colourful fights. But isn’t it just fun?
Comments/questions: janneromppainen@hotmail.com
