By James Slater: The country of Germany really has become THE place to see world heavyweight title fights as of late. Many of the Klitschko brothers fights have taken place in Deutschland (three of Vitali’s last four bouts, Wladimir’s last six fights), and we have also seen “regular” World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champ Alexander Povetkin win his belt in the country.
German fight fans are in for a busy schedule of heavyweight action starting on February 18th and finishing on March 3rd. First up will be the latest defence by WBC king Vitali Klitschko, who will face determined Brit Dereck Chisora in Munich. There are not too many fans or experts out there willing to give “Del Boy” much more than an outside chance, but Chisora sure made “next big thing” Robert Helenius look ordinary back on Dec. 3rd.
If that same fit and focused Chisora turns up on Feb. 18th we may have a very interesting fight on our hands. Vitali is head and shoulders above “The Nordic Nightmare” but Chisora at least proved he can cope well against a big, tall guy. Of the three upcoming heavyweight title fights set for Germany in the three weekend schedule, this match-up looks the most appealing from where I am.
The following Saturday, in Stuttgart, WBO cruiserweight ruler Marco Huck steps up in weight to tackle the aforementioned Povetkin. Huck feels he is big enough and good enough to not only beat the undefeated Russian star, but to also be able to move on and defeat Wladimir Klitschko. The Povetkin-Huck fight could well be an exciting affair, with the two “small” heavyweights being quite evenly matched in both speed and power. I can see Huck taking a hard-fought points win. Whether or not “Kap’n” Huck then goes ahead with his planned challenge of Wladimir will depend largely on what happens in Dusseldorf on March 3rd.
This is the night the postponed Wladimir-Jean Marc Mormeck fight will take place. Mormeck of France is seen by practically everyone as a doomed fighter going into this one. Unless “Dr. Steel Hammer” makes the unlikely mistake of underestimating the former cruiserweight boss, Mormeck does appear to have the proverbial snowball in hell’s chance of winning. The younger Klitschko is notoriously cautious in his fights but we could see a rare early KO win for the Ring Magazine, IBF, WBA, WBO ruler here.
There was a time when almost all the world heavyweight title fight action went down in the U.S. How times have changed. So far, there is just one heavyweight fight of note set for America in 2012, this being the Jan. 21st clash between contenders Eddie Chambers and Siarhei Liakhovich in Philly.
Will we ever see a massive heavyweight title clash in America again? I have nothing against the big German shows we are seeing, but there really was something special about two big men going at it under the bright lights of Las Vegas or inside the great arena that is Madison Square Garden in New York.