09.04.04 – By Derek Tang – “Klitschko” is increasingly becoming a household name in heavyweight boxing—being chanted all the way to the far reaches of the fan-packed arena during one of their boxing matches. The Klitschko brothers are both well-mannered, educated (both have PhDs), and of course, are the rising superheavyweight giants of our time. The next three weeks will determine the fate of each of the two brothers’ legacies and places in heavyweight contention.
The younger of the two brothers, Wladimir, is up first this weekend. Wladimir “Steelhammer” Klitschko, at 28 years old and standing at 6’ 5”, hails from Ukraine with a very unorthodox European boxing style. His record of 42-2 is outstanding, considering his defeats over Jameel McCline, Ray Mercer, Francois Botha, Chris Byrd, Monte Barrett, and several other heavyweight gatekeepers. The only two mars on his record are to Ross Purity, a 3rd tier boxer at best, and Corrie Sanders, a respectable South African heavyweight that will be fighting Vitali Klitschko next weekend and had shockingly knocked down Wladimir four times in two rounds. Wladimir is definitely the more gifted of the brothers, with a quicker, heavier hand combined with an overwhelming jab. He faces Lamon Brewster (29-2) this Saturday, April 10th.
Brewster at 6’ 1”, though inexperienced professionally, has had a solid past in boxing, being a 2-time California Golden Gloves champion, 1995 National Golden Gloves Champion, and a silver medalist in the 1995 Pan American Games. Though he is a clear underdog and has faced no real opposition in his professional boxing career, Brewster, WBO’s #1 contender, says that he is very thankful of the opportunity to fight Wladimir and won’t take matters so lightly in the ring. Expect Wladimir, the 1996 superheavyweight gold medalist, to knockout Brewster within the first four rounds to capture the now-vacant WBO heavyweight crown.
The elder of the two brothers, Vitali “Ironfist” Klitchscko (33-2), is up two weeks from Wladimir’s fight tomorrow and people probably know this superheavyweight as the guy who cried “no” repeatedly at the controversial stoppage on cuts in his meeting with retired heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. Vitali, at 32 years old and 6’ 7”, though less talented than his younger brother, is nonetheless a critical threat in the heavyweight division. Vitali’s two losses are to Lewis by controversial stoppage and Chris Byrd by TKO, while his most notable bout is a recent second round knockout of the Canadian, Kirk Johnson. Like his brother, Vitali has an unorthodox stance and European fighting style, giving most American fighters difficulty in adjusting within the ring. His next fight is on Saturday, April 24th against Corrie Sanders, the South African fellow who knocked out his brother Wladimir almost a year ago.
Sanders (39-2), standing at 6’ 4”, has been in professional heavyweight boxing a long time since 1989; though he’s 38 years old, Sanders still possesses much of that speed, power, and barrage of lefts & rights that could send a boxer down to kiss the canvas (remember Wladimir?). The main attribute of Sander’s Southpaw fighting style is his ability to throw fast, continuous punches to the opponent’s head, while throwing very few body shots; this is usually how he knocks out his opponents. Sanders is a bit weak on the defense, has a questionable chin, doesn’t really have a bulky size for muscling opponents to the ropes; his record is excellent but Sanders has fought mainly heavyweight gatekeepers (Alfred Cole, etc). His only credible heavyweight challenges were maybe Michael Spott and Hasim Rahman (but Sanders lost to Rahman). Sanders is and has been virtually unnoticed until these past two years, and his title shot against Vitali is a one time opportunity for him. In his fight versus Vitali in two weeks, Sanders may be at an additional disadvantage in a reason to win; both undoubtedly want to win the championship belt, but Vitali also wants revenge on his brother. If Sanders beats the elder Klitschko, then it may just be a big disgrace to the Ukranian family. Expect Vitali to come out very aggressive the first round, landing jabs from an 80-inch reach and power punches that will drive Sanders back to the ropes where the knockout will occur. If Sanders can maintain his ground, push forward, and land those left-right barrages through Vitali’s clear hole in defense up the middle, expect a similar occurrence as in his fight with Wladimir by round two.
So, the time period of the next three weeks is the turning point for the Klitschko brothers. They could both have championship belts wrapped around their tummies by the end of this month, or they could both be ruled out as serious heavyweight contenders. No matter what happens, their fights against Lamon Brewster and Corrie Sanders will be great fights.
Why are the Klitschkos the saviors of boxing?
The answer is very simple, though it takes some explanation. Most boxing fans, if not all, know by now that the heavyweight division is in a state of distress; the division is in a desperate search for a true heavyweight champion, now that Lennox Lewis retired a few months ago. So many of today’s ranked heavyweight boxers are either inactive or don’t have what it takes to claim that heavyweight crown.
Let’s look at the heavyweight division’s present status: David Tua, the favorite powerful Samoan boxer, is in the midst of a heated court battle over financial problems and therefore has been inactive for more than a year. “Iron-Mike” Tyson still has the power and speed, but just doesn’t have the fire or will to fight anymore. John Ruiz, who will be fighting for the WBA heavyweight title against Fres Oquendo, simply has little skills and no power to ever be a true threat. Chris Byrd, the IBF heavyweight champion, is the opposite of Ruiz, with all skills and no power; he isn’t a true heavyweight like Ali or Foreman because he can’t really punch hard enough and consequently wins a majority of his fights by decision. Michael Grant, Michael Moorer, Hasim Rahman, and especially Evander Holyfield are all has-beens; Rahman and Holyfield have lost all or almost all of their previous fights in the past year or so, while Grant has a glass jaw and Moorer is still fighting confidence fighters. Joe Mesi, the most hyped American prospect at 29-0, just came off too very controversial decision wins over Monte Barrett and Vassiliy Jirov; this is in addition to his suspect chin and we all know that a heavyweight champion needs a decent chin to take a punch when defending the belt. Dominick Guinn, America’s best prospect at 24-1, recently lost to Monte Barrett, showing that Guinn needs more experience before even thinking about a heavyweight title.
Samuel Peter and Calvin Brock, both exciting upcoming prospects, are still way down in the rankings to be promoted as the next big thing. Andrew Golota, the dirty-fighting Polish heavyweight who bites, low-blows, and even runs out of the ring when scared (remember his fight against Tyson?), just got back into boxing, but so many fans despise him now that it would be a shame if he were ever to get a belt. Kirk Johnson, the Canadian boxer who most thought would fare very well in the elite heavyweights, lost pitifully to Vitali Klitschko by 2nd round knockout and has seemed to disappear from the boxing scene ever since. James Toney, former cruiserweight champion, is injured and out of action with an ankle sprain; because he’s not working out, he’s been topping his weight at a whopping 260 (and he’s only 5’ 11”)! DaVarryl Williamson, Duncan Dokiwari, and Henry Akinwande are all mediocre boxers at best. Audley Harrison, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist who claims that he will be the next “Lennox Lewis” probably will be (as evidence from his destruction of Richel Hersisia for the WBF title recently), but is going too slow a pace to even be in heavyweight crown contention until late 2005 and early 2006; even if Harrison has the best chance at the title out of all the ones mentioned in these past two paragraphs, he plans to win the title (his goal) and NOT defend it. Harrison said that at a recent interview that once he achieves to goal of winning the belt, he is just retiring because he has reached his goal!
Therefore, the heavyweight division needs an immediate champion to at least set the tone. With both Klitschkos fighting within the next three weeks for titles, one of them is bound to win. If compared to the previous retired champion Lennox Lewis, the brothers are either comparable or possibly better in particular aspects. Wladimir (6’ 5”) and Vitali (6’ 7”) are both as tall or taller than Lewis (6’ 5”) and share an overpowering jab that keeps stocky powerful inside fighters (such as Tua and Tyson) at a distance. Both of the brothers have an unorthodox European stance that is very odd and difficult to adapt to for most American fighters. This is in addition to the power and speed behind their punches that have made many of their opponents hug the canvas. The Klitschkos have both fought reasonable and experienced opponents, from Chris Byrd (master of eluding punches) to Ray Mercer (has a tough chin as seen from his fight versus Tommy Versus and doesn’t go down that easy) to Kirk Johnson. So within the ring, the skills of the brothers are not in doubt; even outside of the ring, the brothers conduct themselves as respectable gentleman. Mike Tyson once said at a press conference that though he did have a championship belt, he could never be a true champion because he said he would always act like where he came from, the ghetto. When Lewis retired from boxing and opted not to give Vitali a rematch, Vitali never called Lewis a coward or scared of getting beaten; instead, Vitali met Lewis’s retirement with respect and left it at that. So because the Klitschkos have the personalities and the skills to be heavyweight champions, they can be the next crowned heavyweight boxers.
In a time when the heavyweight division is in such distress, who else can the division or the boxing fans turn to? The questionable Mesi? The inexperienced Guinn? The has-been Rahman? The 38 year old and aged Sanders? The hugging, clinching, and boring Ruiz? Definitely not. Regardless of what some would like to believe, it must be accepted that the Klitschko brothers are the saviors of boxing.