11.10.05 – By Vincent Ringheden: Coming off of his recent come from behind knockout victory over Luan Krasniqi on September 28, the new heavyweight star of the division, WBO heavyweight champion, Lamon Brewster, has recently expressed interest in fighting Vitali Klitschko for a unification match for the WBO and WBC heavyweight titles. However, Wladimir Klitschko may have something to say about that, since he is the mandatory challenger for both the WBO and IBF heavyweight titles, after his 12 round decision over Samuel Peter on September 24. Whether or not Wladimir chooses to fight Brewster or Chris Byrd, the current IBF heavyweight champion, still remains to be seen. For one, the WBO is considered by many people to be the lesser of the two belts, however, I don’t particularly fall in line with that belief. To me, it doesn’t matter what belt it is, it’s who holds the belt, which gives it the true worth and I consider Lamon Brewster to be the better fighter between him and Chris Byrd.
To be honest, I don’t think Wladimir will be doing himself one bit of good by challenging Chris Byrd for the IBF heavyweight title, no matter what people may think abut the WBO. Wladimir has already soundly defeated Chris Byrd on October 14th, 2000, in a fight that was completely one-sided. For Wladimir, there’s no point in wasting time by destroying, I mean, fighting Byrd once more.
No, the real fight out there for Wladimir is against Lamon Brewser, a fighter that stopped Wladimir in 5 rounds on April 10, 2004. In that fight, the much taller and faster Klitschko punished Brewster for 4 brutal rounds, with Brewster tasting the canvas near the end of the 4th. The fight was so one-sided, that it only appeared to be a matter of time before the referee stepped in to stop the slaughter. However, in the 5th round, Wladimir suddenly tired out, and Brewster finally got close enough to land one of his powerful left hooks to the head near the end of the round. The fight was soon stopped shortly after, with Wladimir completely out of it.
Since then, Brewster has defended his WBO title three times, winning a close 12 round decision over Kali Meehan in September 2004, stopping Andrew Golota in the 1st round in May 2005, and Luan Krasniqi on September 28, 2005. The fight against Golota was a total blitz, which saw Brewster rush out and land huge left hooks to the head of Golota, sending him to the canvas three times before the fight was stopped 53 seconds into the 1st round.
For Wladimir, he is coming off a 12 round decision over the knockout artist Samuel Peter, in a fight where Wladimir was knocked down three times, yet was still able to pull out the decision with the use of his new “Cluth and grab” style that he has adopted from his trainer, Emanuel Steward. Upon review of the fight, Wladimir is extremely tough to beat with this style, even with his weak chin. For short fighters, such as Samuel Peter and Lamon Brewser, it’s difficult for them to get close to Wladimir, due to his long reach, his excellent jab, and constant foot movement. However, even when highly touted Peter was able to get close enough to throw punches, Wladimir would quickly wrap him up tight in a clinch.
As soon as they were separated by the referee, Wladimir would immediately start popping Peter in the fast with his stinging jab, followed by an occasional huge right hand and short left power hook. Wladimir proved that he could get off the canvas, and overcome adversity, something that he had been lacking in before the fight, in losing efforts to Brewster, Corrie Sanders and Ross Purity. Regardless whether or not Wladimir has a weak chin or not, he has awesome power that makes it difficult for anyone to deal with, no matter who it is.
So, how would a likely rematch with Brewster turn out? For starters, I don’t see Wladimir making the same mistake he did in their previous fight, where he threw close to 80 punches per rounds, perhaps trying to impress his new trainer, Emanuel Steward, It was pretty to watch, but it seemed like a foolish fight plan at the time, as Wladimir was betting that he could take out the iron-chinned Brewster, before, quickly tiring out. This next time around, I see Wladimir opting to box Brewster from the outside, and using his superior jab and grab style. Of course, it won’t be easy, as Brewster will put an incredible amount of pressure on Wladimir, and attempt to tire him out and get inside, where he can land his big left hook. If Wladimir gets careless, or becomes exhausted, I can see the same outcome as the first fight. Either way, this fight is still very much a toss up, as Brewster has an awesome chin and a powerful equalizer with his left hook.