Wanted: Klitschko Doctorate of Defense

By Steve Trellert

12.03 - Over the last two years a consensus grew amongst most Boxing pundits that Wladimir Klitschko was the heir apparent to the Heavyweight Division. He was the head on favorite to follow the long prestigious line of Mohammed Ali, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis for his generation. Interestingly, Wladimir shares many similarities with the latter in Lennox Lewis. Both had extensive amateur careers that led to Olympic Gold. They share similarities in stature in terms of height and weight. Their arsenal and approach in the ring are similar as they both share a potent jab, a lethal straight right hand and a tendency to fight in an almost intellectually cautious manner devoid of any unnecessary risk.

"Safety first" always implied the need to retain the initiative and tempo of a fight by having "their great offense be their great defense". For Wladimir Klitschko this philosophy worked to a charm to such an extent that he dominated every opponent he ever faced. This even included the now highly regarded Chris Byrd who himself recently impressed by clearly defeating Evander Holyfield and David Tua. The one hiccup against Ross Puritty was simply an anomaly, based on a lack of stamina, which was quickly corrected. Since then everything proceeded with an almost effortless ease as one opponent after another was brushed aside. It seemed the peak was within reach and then catastrophe struck in the form of a hard-hitting southpaw named Corrie Sanders. What went wrong?

Most will immediately point to a weak chin finally being exposed for the main reason for this debacle, but that may be shortsighted. Wladimir faced one of the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division and even took a flush shot to the chin on the inside early in the first round with Sanders against the ropes. He took it well. Outside of the first knockdown, the next two punches had full leverage on them similar to the shot Lennox Lewis took from Hasim Rahman in Africa. While Lennox went down and out, Wladimir kept on getting up. Does this imply he has a good chin? No, Does he have an average chin? Probably, but nevertheless it is not necessarily the chin that should bode the most concern, but the real cause of the debacle on that Saturday night, his atrocious defensive skills.

After witnessing this fight I almost find it hard to believe that Wladimir had an extensive amateur career, won an Olympic Gold medal, and won forty out of forty-one professional fights. I have never witnessed a contender, or even a journeyman, react that way towards adversity in the ring. First of all he completely forgot the basic rule of moving towards your opponent and holding him when you are hurt. Wladimir's reaction was instead a combination of half-trying to throw a retaliatory punch, and half cowering away from getting hurt. Sanders himself stated that he saw fear in Wladimir's eyes and went after the kill. If that fear is Klitschko's natural instinct, then it is going to be difficult for Wladimir in the future to compose himself under pressure and pull it together in those moments that will inevitably come against those top ten fighters such as Evander Holyfield and David Tua who are willing to wade through a hailstorm to make their point.

Secondly, If he does manage to retain composure in the future, this still does not address the primary tactical weakness in Wladimir's armor, and that is his inside game. Corrie Sanders has to some extent created a blueprint for other fighters to follow. If you notice, Corrie threw his big punches from just inside Wladimir's jab. He was close enough to smother and therefore nullify the jab, and yet far enough out to get the leverage necessary to land the straight left. Klitschko's bad habit of moving straight back only exacerbated the damage he suffered.

Lennox Lewis has been in a similar position in the past and has always had two solutions. One was to move towards your opponent and smother his punches. The second is to throw an uppercut. Wladimir Klitschko has always been devoid of this particular weapon that can also be used for defensive purposes. It is surprising up to this point that this has never been developed especially since it is a great method to quickly recapture the initiative after one has lost it. What is interesting to note is the fact that Klitschko's corner, at the end of the first round against Corrie Sanders, never mentioned once for him either to hold or to throw an uppercut. On the HBO broadcast, about 10 seconds of the dialogue was missed in his corner and so it still may have been mentioned without us being aware of it. But my guess is that they did not as Wladimir attempted neither in the second round. It appears that his corner may have failed him in his moment of greatest need. Yes, they would have been reminding him of the obvious, but that does not excuse them of this responsibility.

If this is the case then perhaps it may be time for a change. Lennox Lewis similarly had no uppercut of note until after he lost to Oliver McCall and joined forces with trainer Emmanuel Steward. He also learned to have better balance and to react more calmly to periods of adversity in the ring. Maybe it is time for Wladimir to become even more similar to Lennox Lewis and make a similar move and hire the right professor to give him his second doctorate, a doctorate of defense.

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