Boxing

Ring Magazine and the Vitali Klitschko Bandwagon

By Steve Trellert

31.08 - In the ever-winding road of Heavyweight boxing the word "almost" has never resonated more than it does today. Vitali Klitschko in many ways shocked the world with his resoundingly gritty and brave performance against champion Lennox Lewis. Within minutes of the end of their fight, online boxing message boards were alight with the numerous claims that Vitali was the unofficial Heavyweight Champion of the World. His defenders cited the fact that he was ahead on all three judges' scorecards at the end of the sixth round when the fight was called at the discretion of the referee after consultation with the ring physician. Although most respectable boxing 'institutions' did not go this far, it seems some of the associated emotion may have rubbed off on one of them much more than it should have.

"The Ring" Magazine has grown in prestige and stature over the last few years mostly due to a general consensus that their rankings of fighters are accurate compared to other major organizations in the sport. In comparison to the assorted sanctioning bodies this is most certainly true as years of numerous dubious mandatories' can attest. When viewed with some degree of objectivity the rankings are by and large very accurate, so much so that the magazine has garnered support from commentators on ESPN's Friday Night Fights and to a lesser extent HBO. Although very good in general, its rankings seemed to have fallen victim to the emotion of the moment. Vitali Klitschko has inexplicably risen from #10 to #4 in its rankings and the basis of that can only be rationalized as an emotional response.

Although Vitali performed well and even visibly hurt Lennox Lewis, he lost fair and square. There are three ways to win a fight, either by decision, through a knockout, or by inflicting so much damage on your opponent that the ring doctor deems a fighters continuation to be excessively dangerous to his health. Now in some cases corruption or incompetence does occur as it did with Eugenia Williams in the first Lennox Lewis vs Evander Holyfield fight. Judges make mistakes, doctors make mistakes and referees make mistakes. When clear-cut errors occur there usually is an associated vitriolic backlash and a general consensus that the associated result is illegitimate. In the Vitali Klitschko vs Lennox Lewis fight this did not occur, in fact the vast majority concurred that the decision to stop the fight was wise and even Vitali himself has recently stated he could understand why the fight was stopped. Hence, Lennox Lewis struggled and yet won the fight unquestionably without any realistic reason to doubt its legitimacy. Does this mean we should not feel an affinity or sympathy for Vitali Klitschko? Of course not, but how far should our sympathy go? Should it result in a large rise in the rankings?

Of course the answer here has to be no. A legitimate loss is a legitimate loss and as in most sports it should be rewarded as such. In most cases when a fighter loses a fight they go down in the rankings, and at the very least a fighter should hold in their current position. But to rise substantially is to verge on the ridiculous. Now if Vitali had some amount of pedigree behind him worthy to speak one could tend to empathize with Ring Magazine to a certain extent, but alas this is not the case.

Of additional concern is the fact that Vitali has never defeated a top 15 fighter in his entire career. The one time he stepped up in quality he was defeated by the currently ranked number one challenger in Chris Byrd. His post loss comeback disappointed many in its lack of ambition as Vitali went on to fight marginal contenders such as Vaughn Bean and Larry Donald instead of initiating a brave return to earning a title shot against a true contender. Like Mike Tyson in recent years, he was one of those fighters who seemed to be wanting to gain a title shot at minimum risk while his brother Wladimir and others such as Chris Byrd, Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman and David Tua fought top ten contenders as a matter of routine. Now based on one successful act of courage under the fire of adversity (which could at this point be construed as an anomaly though it is doubtful that it is) Vitali is suddenly vaulted beyond most of the above listed fighters based on what, sympathy? A conclusion regarding what may have happened if the fight continued? This answer remains unclear, but what is not unclear is the additional factor that the general consensus has concluded that the Lennox Lewis we witnessed in that fight was a vastly inferior version of his previous self.

In the most recent edition of "Ring Magazine" we have an article written by Mr. Brian Doogan that consists of various quotes on Lennox Lewis' performance in this fight. Lennox himself stated "I am definitely starting to feel the aging process." His trainer Emanuel Steward commented that his fighter's performance that night was "the worst of Lennox's career." Even Chris Byrd commented that Lewis' "deterioration (was) there for everyone to see." In virtual unanimity the boxing world declared that Lennox Lewis had significantly declined in abilities and aged overnight. This in combination with the fact that he was approaching 38 years of age, and had not fought for over a year, vociferously declared that the man Vitali Klitschko looked good against was not the Champion we have all grown to know all too well, but someone clearly inferior. So what does all this mean in aggregate?

What we have is a fighter who unmistakably performed admirably and far beyond expectations in his effort against Lennox Lewis. He eliminated the label of "quitter" that had arisen when he quit on his stool against Chris Byrd. These things he undeniably accomplished and so enhanced his prestige. But what he did not accomplish is that which has been attributed to him in the Ring Magazine Rankings. To have Vitali Klitschko move so aggressively upward in the rankings despite an undeniably legitimate loss, having never defeated a top 15 fighter and losing to a fighter the majority recognizes as having slipped precipitously in abilities, (and who is at an advanced age and had not fought in a year) is negligent. This is especially true considering the enhanced legitimacy and recognition, and therefore responsibility and influence; their rankings have accrued to date.

Finally, it is undeniable that most of the public wants a rematch to occur between these two fighters. This was stimulated by the fight being entertaining and a sense to many that Vitali was an underdog who could have won the fight if it had continued. In some sense the public wants to witness what they think "almost" happened or what they wanted to happen. This is of course just meaningless conjecture similar to what Lennox Lewis declared when he stated he would have won the fight in the next two rounds if it had continued. Additionally, there is a sense of deep sympathy for a fighter who demonstrated a tremendous amount of courage and wanted to carry on irrespective of his wounds. How could one not cheer and feel for that type of individual. Nevertheless, rankings should not be based on feelings, sympathy or conjecture.

They should be based on legitimate accomplishments and not an admirable performance in defeat. Despite the enhancement of his reputation, Vitali Klitschko still must prove that he can defeat a top level fighter, and to date he has not accomplished that of yet. Until that moment occurs a top five ranking should not be given to him, irrespective of the emotions at hand, "almost" does not suffice.

If you have any comments regarding this article, email me at Vancanste@aol.com or post it here at Eastsideboxing.

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