11.04.04 – By Chris Acosta – It’s easy to just assume that an athlete’s mind and body work as one harmonious unit. In truth though, there are fluctuations in each aspect and thus they rarely coincide perfectly. We saw that last night in Wladimir Klitschko’s shocking loss to Lamon Brewster.
Wladimir, as always, appeared to be in great shape. He had arguably the sports best trainer in Emanuel Steward working his corner. He had supposedly learned from the knockout to Corrie Sanders. He spoke of a renewed determination to simultaneously hold a championship with his brother. Unfortunately, there were other details of his return to the big time that took away as much of the shine as my “perfect” ex-girlfriend confessing that she had slept with half the town: Wladimir wasn’t looking himself in sparring. He looked even more cautious in his two comeback fights. His own trainer, Fritz Sudunek was quoted by reporters as saying that Wladimir should retire if he lost. Boy Fritz, if this trainer thing doesn’t work out, you should definitely check into motivational speaking.
To make matters more spooky, he was fighting a man who made the term “nothing to lose” seem like the mother of all understatements, a guy who was dedicating the fight to his recently deceased trainer. The odds in the fight started at 10-1 and plunged to 4-1 by fight time so whatever was in the air had apparently been sniffed by the Vegas bookies too. When HBO’s cameras went into the fighters dressing rooms to get images of them shadow boxing, Wlad looked like he was trying to remember whether he’d left the oven on back home. I sensed something was amiss but I drove right into that iceberg with the rest of you.
I am not here to make excuses for what transpired. When fists are flying anything can happen. I do know however, that the Wladimir Klitschko we were all so used to, is done. I hate to say that but it is blatantly obvious that his confidence is shot. The loss to Sanders wasn’t just the major setback that many of the insiders were proclaiming. It was a life-altering event. However high we raise the pedestal for boxers as the toughest athletes in the sporting world, we have to remember that they are as human as the rest of mere mortals. A Marvin Hagler or Bernard Hopkins make it through an entire career without ever looking like they’ve been hurt and we laud them (as we should) for their toughness and durability. But I also happen to believe that they were as fortunate as a soldier who comes off the front lines without a scratch; it just wasn’t their time to go. In this case, it isn’t about a war vet screaming “incoming!” when he hears a car backfire, it is about a boxer who violently realized that one punch can erase all the hours of preparation and strategy.
Wladimir Klitschko has all the talent in the world. He hooks off the jab better than any heavyweight I have ever seen. His jab is something to behold. He is quick and strong. His physical gifts almost seem unfair. But his will is broken and as far as I know, they haven’t come up with a surgery for that. Let’s hope that he retires and if he decides to fight, that he takes a year off first to get himself together if that is possible at this point. Congratulations to Lamon Brewster.