16.02.04 – By Warren Wilkins: Prior to the loud and leather fisted interjection of South African Corrie Sanders last year, many boxing pundits envisioned a rather orderly ascension to the heavyweight throne. Venerable champion Lennox Lewis would, either through defeat or abdication, relinquish his longtime crown to a worthy successor, presumably power-punching Ukrainian Wlad Klitschko. Klitschko, while not cut from the same championship caliber cloth as his predecessor, represented a more than palatable heir.
Unfortunately for Klitschko, however, Sanders neglected to cooperate in the coming coronation. The unheralded southpaw battered Klitschko en route to a resounding, albeit alarmingly efficient, second round knockout, and it is now he, and not the younger Klitschko, who stands poised to inherit Lewis’s mantle. Assuming, of course, he can defeat Wlad’s surrogate, elder brother Vitali Klitschko, in a modestly anticipated WBC title bout this spring.
So what is the boxing public to make of Sanders’s newfound fame and present position of prominence within the heavyweight ranks? Not much, according to some longtime observers. Proponents of this patently unflattering opinion of Sanders consider the thirty eight year old veteran little more than the boxing equivalent of the music industry’s proverbial “one hit wonder”- a fortuitous, some might say outright lucky fighter destined for a nondescript footnote in the annals of boxing history. Yet, others subscribe to a decidedly different school of thought. Sanders, they maintain, lacked the name recognition to successfully negotiate fights with hot prospects or aspiring contenders leery of hard-hitting lefties.
Sanders himself understands the skepticism surrounding his unexpected demolition of Wladimir Klitschko, but he prefers to offer a more favorable explanation for his years spent toiling about in the hinterlands of boxing’s premier division.
“Well, to be honest, I am an unorthodox fighter and a tough fighter, and I think that makes me a problem for other fighters,” Sanders said. “This could be part of the reason why I have been so inactive. But, it’s my time now, and I’d like to make the most of my opportunity.”
If Sanders intends to inherit the WBC title from Lewis and secure a lucrative purse or two in the process, he’ll need to summon another stirring upset from an aged body and conquer the senior sibling of the Brothers Klitschko. And while formal negotiations between the respective combatants’ management teams remain cordial, the opening salvo of the pending Sanders-Vitali Klitschko battle was anything but.
“Honestly, after I had beaten Wladimir, it was my time and this guy {Vitali} is telling me how they’re going to get the belt back,” said Sanders. “I wouldn’t really say it’s something I’ll be thinking about in training, though. Obviously, he will have motivations as well, so I’m not sure how much of factor it will be.”
Motivations notwithstanding, Sanders is approaching the culminating stage of his career buoyed by a serene self-confidence and the endorsement of a former champion.
“Lennox {Lewis} phoned me before and after the fight with Wladimir Klitschko, and he said I was a great fighter,” Sanders recalled. “He said I was a great fighter who could continue on.”