06.02.07 – By Craig Parrish: The boxing world was electrified recently with Vitali Klitschko’s announcement that after nearly a two year layoff, he is ready to return to the ring. As Klitschko had been appointed “Champion Emeritus” by the WBC upon his retirement, he was assured that if at some point he could return from his injuries, he would be placed in line for an immediate title shot.
Discussions for that title shot against current WBC strap holder Oleg Maskaev are ongoing. This has upset many boxing fans regarding challenger Samuel Peter. Peter has fought James Toney in not one, but two title eliminators for a crack at Maskaev. While the first fight was a controversial decision, the second was a clear and decisive victory for Peter in a sanctioned fight.
Peter has paid his dues and is understandably upset that his opportunity may be snatched away yet again. And as usual, there is much finger pointing, posturing, and threats of litigation going around and around.
Both Klitschko and Peter have valid arguments. If Klitschko had indeed been assured an immediate shot at the title if he was able to return, why shouldn’t he expect it? And Peter has been pursuing this for months with two hard fought bouts against a crafty, albeit bloated, James Toney. If Klitschko fights and beats Maskaev, Peter would have to face him for the title. If Peter fights and beats Maskeaev, Klitschko must face Peter for the title. It seems both men feel Maskaev is the easier path to climb, and they are probably right. Maskaev, after a long and workmanlike career, is probably just looking for the biggest payday and it’s hard to blame him for that. Chances are he would lose to either challenger.
So is Vitali Klitschko’s comeback good for boxing? I’ve listed the plusses and minuses the way I see it:
Plus – Klitschko has some class. While some heavyweights attempt to rob jewelry stores, get arrested for drug possession, or beat up strippers in their off time, Klitschko was running for Mayor of Kiev. He is a well educated, soft-spoken fighter who for the most part lets his fists do the talking. Both he and brother Wladimir are excellent representatives of the sport in this respect. Boxing could use more fighters like this to counter the effects of the many foul-mouthed egomaniacs.
Plus – Klitschko didn’t take the easy path. As Nicolai Valuev inches closer and closer to Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 mark, there is a lot of discussion about “padding” records. Klitschko has had 37 fights with a record of 35-2. In both losses, Klitschko was ahead on the cards before being injured and both to world champions. Of all of his 37 fights, he has only fought two fighters with losing records. Valuev has fought 5 fighters with straight out losing records, but an incredible amount of 23 fighters with 10 fights or less on their record. Klitschko on the other hand has only fought 3 fighters with less than 10 fights to their credit.
Plus – He’s a good fighter. The heavyweight division needs more quality fighters as the talent level is at a fairly low ebb. Although he is not as accomplished a boxer as Wladimir, he has good skills and more importantly, a great chin. I don’t see Vitali having any trouble with any of the current title-holders with the exception of perhaps Wladimir, which is a non-issue as they will not fight each other. Both brothers always train hard for their fights and show up in tremendous condition.
Minus – Injuries. Vitali has been very injury prone, especially in the last few years. While I do not believe he was intentionally ducking Hasim Rahman, it did get very frustrating to have their fight postponed over and over due to Vitali’s string of injuries. What happens if he fights and defeats Maskaev, and injures himself in the process? Samuel Peter will have to wait even longer to get his shot at the belt. That would be terrible for Peter who has played by all of the rules to get his chance.
Minus – Unification. As long as Wladimir holds one of the belts and Vitali another, unification cannot happen. The brothers have stated many times that they will not fight each other and have not even sparred for years. Vitali mentioned in an article recently that if he and Wlad were title holders at the same time, then they would need to talk about unification, but apparently later said he was misquoted. However, with the current breed of Promoters, what was the likeliness of the much promised “Heavyweight unification tournament” ever happening anyway? We’ve heard about this for years, yet nothing has been done.
Overall, I believe that Vitali’s return if good for boxing. We need more good heavyweights. However, it must be tough to be in Samuel Peter’s shoes right now. The man has done everything that has been asked of him, paid his dues, and still might wind up sitting at ringside for the next WBC title fight. And what about Oleg Maskaev? It must be interesting to know that part of this battle going on for the right to fight him basically comes from the fact that he is perceived as the easier fight.
Wouldn’t it be something if Maskaev beat them both?