Boxing News Thread

[2-0-Sixx]

By Dan Ambrose:
I don’t think Hopkins is going to prove me wrong, not unless he fights better than he’s ever fought in his entire career because I don’t see Hopkins as ever having the kind of talent needed to beat Pascal the way he’s fighting now.

That's one of the dumbest statements I've ever heard. A Prime Bhop, shit, even a 41 year old Bhop that beat Tarver, would beat the shit out of Pascal. This author thinks Pascal is something special. He's not. He didn't beat Dawson as much as Dawson lost the fight. Pascal also lost to carl froch. There is nothing that really stands out about Pascal that says he's a great fighter. He's a good fighter, but not great. Hopkins is an all time great.

A younger hopkins would mop the floor with simple ass pascal. He would set so many traps for pascal, jean wouldn't know wtf to do. he would probably be stopped late since pascal fades and hopkins was known to put the pressure on late in fights.

The only way Pascal beats hopkins is because hopkins will be two weeks away from being 46 years old. That's it. Skill for skill hopkins is lightyears ahead of pascal. The only difference now is hopkins is so far faded from his prime a young guy like pascal will be very challenging and mostly that's due to hopkins stamina issues at his advanced age.

 

[heyzel]

Steward Compares Klitschko With Lennox Lewis and Ali

By Ruslan Chikov

Emanuel Steward, trainer of many past and present world champions, compared the attributes of WBO/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko to some of the fighters that he's worked with and been around, like Lennox Lewis and Muhammad Ali. Steward will be in Klitschko's corner when he faces the rematch challenge of Samuel Peter on Saturday in Frankfurt, Germany.

When asked about Klitschko and Lewis, Steward told reporter Alexander Pavlov the differences and similar traits between the two. Steward brought both of them to the heavyweight title.

"The movement of Wladimir better balanced. He clearly works more with his legs. I worked with five world champions in the heavyweight division, including Evander Holyfield. And I will say that Wladimir 's body of work and his coordination is better than all the rest of my students. However, sometimes he must act more aggressively. Sometimes he thinks for too long. If it wasn't for that, he would leave his opponents with no chance at all. However, he is the most powerful natural talent than any other heavyweight champion with whom I've worked with," Steward said.

He then was asked to compare the great jab of Wladimir to the great jab of Ali.

"The jab of Wladimir is considerably more powerful, it is simply shocking, and penetrates the opponent from head to toe. Ali is similar but when he tries to come in forward in a straight line he loses some of his balance and coordination. In a number of technical aspects, Klitschko is significantly superior. In terms of a jab, for me he's the best. After him, in that element, I would put Larry Holmes, and then Lewis," Steward said.

"I think that Klitschko could have been a force among the fighters of the past decade and would be a big problem for them due to his size, motor coordination and excellent work. And then you factor is his jab."

In the overall sense, Steward saw Lewis as better but he says Wladimir has the better tools.

"Lewis was a more versatile fighter, he could completely restructure the course of a fight. But in terms of boxing arsenal - Wladimir [is better]. But he is still very young, and I think he still has a chance in a couple of years to become one the best in boxing history. However, his problem is a lack of a decent opponent. Povetkin ran away from him, and Haye also ran from Wladimir, and from Vitali," Steward said.

 

[heyzel]

That's one of the dumbest statements I've ever heard. A Prime Bhop, shit, even a 41 year old Bhop that beat Tarver, would beat the shit out of Pascal. This author thinks Pascal is something special. He's not. He didn't beat Dawson as much as Dawson lost the fight. Pascal also lost to carl froch. There is nothing that really stands out about Pascal that says he's a great fighter. He's a good fighter, but not great. Hopkins is an all time great.

A younger hopkins would mop the floor with simple ass pascal. He would set so many traps for pascal, jean wouldn't know wtf to do. he would probably be stopped late since pascal fades and hopkins was known to put the pressure on late in fights.

The only way Pascal beats hopkins is because hopkins will be two weeks away from being 46 years old. That's it. Skill for skill hopkins is lightyears ahead of pascal. The only difference now is hopkins is so far faded from his prime a young guy like pascal will be very challenging and mostly that's due to hopkins stamina issues at his advanced age.

agreed I see b- hop giving pascal a ass whipping in this fight it nothing pasacl do special

 

[heyzel]

Floyd Mayweather Needs Boxing, and Boxing Needs Him

By Keith Idec

Something should’ve become very obvious to fight fans worldwide over the past week.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. needs boxing as much as the sport needs him.

Without it in his daily life, Mayweather’s one-year “vacation” has taken dubious detours to the Internet and now Clark County Detention Center in Nevada in just one week. He clearly has too much time on his hands and this seven-day debacle should lead anyone around him with any sense to make Mayweather consider returning to boxing as soon as possible, in any way possible.

This doesn’t necessarily mean Mayweather should try to schedule a fight right away. Truthfully, there aren’t many boxing fans, casual or hardcore, who want to watch the undefeated Mayweather fight anyone other than Manny Pacquiao in his next bout.

With Pacquiao penciled in for a Nov. 13 fight against Antonio Margarito, Mayweather-Pacquiao probably wouldn’t be scheduled for any sooner than May ?, mostly due to financial factors. Mayweather would have an extremely tough time selling an interim fight against another opponent to HBO Sports executives and the paying public, largely because he handled “negotiations” for the Pacquiao showdown in such an obnoxiously odd, misleading manner.

But Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) can make constructive use of his idle time while waiting for his Filipino nemesis by contributing in various ways to the sport that has made him ridiculously rich and either famous or infamous, depending on how much or little Mayweather makes your blood boil. He already donates a lot of time and money to various causes in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas and his native Grand Rapids, Mich.

Feeding homeless people and making the wishes of ill children come true obviously are endearing endeavors. But maybe Mayweather could head to gyms in Las Vegas to work with amateurs, the aspiring “Money” men this star-starved sport so desperately needs to develop as the 33-year-old Mayweather and the 31-year-old Pacquiao head toward the end of their physical primes.

Or, if he truly cares as much about the growth and health of the sport as he says, Mayweather might want to try building his self-named promotional company into more than a transparent shell entity that seemingly exists to make Mayweather’s financial life easier, not to develop prospects into bankable boxers. If that doesn’t interest the gifted five-division champion, why not help develop Olympic hopefuls at the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team’s training headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.?

If anyone understands the importance of Olympic competition and how it opens doors for future pros, it is Mayweather.

He won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where he was the victim of a highly controversial decision defeat to Bulgaria’s Serafim Todorov in the featherweight semifinals. His Olympic experience led to him signing with Top Rank Inc., which, whether Mayweather wants to admit it or not, placed him on the path toward superstardom from 1996-2005.

Besides, it could keep him from the type of self-destructive behavior that over the past week has damaged whatever was left of Mayweather’s half-ruined reputation.

As if his asinine attempt at humor on Ustream.tv last week wasn’t bad enough, Mayweather went above and beyond to attractive negative attention this week. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Mayweather was arrested Friday morning and charged with grand larceny, reportedly for taking the cell phone of Josie Harris, Mayweather’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of three of his four children.

Harris also applied for a temporary order of protection against Mayweather, whom she claims punched her in the head, pulled her hair and tried to break her arm after entering her home as she slept. Las Vegas Police Deparment officers escorted Mayweather from Harris’ home at about 3 a.m. PDT on Friday.

This inevitably will become a ‘he said, she said’ situation, but Mayweather could be sentenced to as many as five years in prison for stealing items valued at less than $2,500 from Harris’ home. She reportedly was treated for minor injuries at Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center and released.

Mayweather, meanwhile, was released from Clark County Detention Center on $3,000 bail.

Harris claims Mayweather’s maniacal behavior stemmed from her relationship with another man. She also said he came to her home sometime last week, presumably around the time he posted that vulgar video in which he made sophomoric Filipino jokes about Pacquiao and called Pacquiao a “faggot.”

Anyone that truly cares for Mayweather must be wondering what’s next, especially if he doesn’t start boxing again until sometime in 2011.

When boxing is the epicenter of Mayweather’s universe, Mayweather mostly conducts himself as a consummate professional. His commendable conduct when his foul-filled fight against Zab Judah was temporarily stopped 4½ years ago comes to mind.

It’s when he isn’t in or around the ring that Mayweather’s family members, friends and fans have every right to grow more worried by the day about his mental well being. He looks lost without boxing, without the adulation of a loyal army of supporters and the motivation provided by perhaps an even larger group of detractors.

We should be resigned to the fact that Mayweather will come back when he feels like it, and not a second sooner. That’ll probably occur around the time he notices that his stacks of cash have dwindled to an unacceptable level.

We also should hope that Mayweather’s trips to his ex-girlfriend’s house don’t land him in jail. Harris’ health and safety are more important issues, but then Mayweather would have a legitimate excuse to avoid answering boxing’s burning pound-for-pound question in the ring.

Those are matters for several months down the road, though. For now, keeping Mayweather from following this pathetic pattern of boorish and now illegal behavior should be extremely important for those close enough to him to genuinely want what’s best for him and his four children.

Bringing boxing back into Mayweather’s life, in whatever way possible, is of utmost importance if he is to restore some normalcy in his personal life. Mayweather obviously needs boxing as much as it needs him

 

[heyzel]

HBO President, Schaefer Express Concern For Mayweather

By Mark Vester

Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s recent run of negative attention has caused concern among those who know him best. Last week Mayweather's streaming video, which featured a profane attack on Manny Pacquiao, caused a firestorm of negative press. A week later, Mayweather is arrested in Las Vegas for grand theft larceny in connection with a claim of domestic assault by the mother of his children.

HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg told the Los Angeles Times that Mayweather needs to change his life around because the general boxing public is turning against him.

"He's got to get his life in order," Greenburg said. "This gives me pause. I've known Floyd for many years, and we've showcased him several times on [HBO's reality series] "24/7," with people engaged by his personality. Now people are repelled by his personality. I hope he can learn from these terrible mistakes. Someone has to do an intervention with him."

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer agrees with Greenburg's views, telling the paper that Mayweather should turn his life around by returning to the ring because the out-of-boxing temptations are getting the best of him at the moment.

"The spotlight is a glorious light at times, but it can be a hard light too," Schaefer said. For many, their athletic environment is a kingdom, a real place to find refuge from outside influences -- their safe haven. The same is true for Floyd. He's a gym rat. Maybe he needs to get back in there and fight again so we can all enjoy his amazing talents."

 

[heyzel]

Mayweather and Haye: A dark week for Boxing

By Jordan Stoddart: The last week started with reports coming in that David Haye, WBA Heavyweight champion of the world, was due to sign formal contracts to fight Audley Harrison, a recent EBU champion who’s only real claim to fame was as a Gold medalist at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. A long time has passed, and his standing in the sport is now somewhat laughable, no disrespect to the fighter intended. The fight was confirmed on Tuesday morning, and a press conference that was littered with obscenities and general trash talk was aired to the ‘world’. “This will be a public execution” stated the ever so eloquent Haye as he spat venom for as long as he was listened to. One could argue the ridiculous amount of trash talk which ensued was just there to promote a disgraceful bit of match making, if you want to call it that. Then came the bombshell from Haye that his November 13th bout at Manchester’s MEN arena would be ‘as one-sided as a gang rape’. Outrage in the United Kingdom followed, and rightly so. An absolutely appalling way to use such a horrific crime as a marketing tool. A new low, for a fighter who talked so much when entering the Heavy’s, yet has proved to be Great Britain’s answer to Floyd Mayweather.


“I’m the most devastating fighter on the planet”, stated Haye as he reverted back to a phrase which Tyson used so well in his early career, but who did live up to it, and I am talking about fighting the best fighters available. Mayweather stated after his one sided bout with Juan Manuel Marquez, that he ‘was the greatest fighter that ever lived’. He then backed out for the second time with negotiations to fight the world No 1 pound for pound fighter, Manny Pacquiao. Funnily enough, over in the United States, we hear similar despicable talk, when Mayweather, allegedly the best Welterweight in the world, called Pacquiao a ‘yellow midget’ and asked ‘if he could cook him some sushi, then some cats and dogs’. Both journeys from these fighters have an astonishing amount of similarities. Both, to a degree, have hand picked opponents, both claim to be the greatest in their chosen divisions/planet, both rely on shock value marketing, and both have failed to fight the best Boxers on offer. The only difference being is that the self marketed David Haye guaranteed that he would fight the Klitschko brothers after the Ruiz fight. Its pretty easy to see that Haye is now actually avoiding them, much to my disappointment. He kinda lost a big fan on Tuesday morning.

Ladies and Gentleman, I have pondered over this for some time now, and I can confirm that we have a new fighter on the scene. One that incorporates the mouth of Ali, (Although Ali’s rhetoric looks like a picnic now, compared to the vile abuse aired over the last few weeks by these two clowns) the potential of Sugar Ray Leonard, but the guts of a retreating solider. Unfortunately for the Boxing world, it gets worse, after Friday evenings news had surfaced that Floyd Mayweather had been, yet again, on the wrong side of the law. Whilst the 7 weight champion, Manny Pacquiao was setting up camp for his November 13th bout with Antonio Margarito, Floyd was in a detention centre, awaiting to be released on $3000 bail for getting himself arrested on charges of grand larceny as part of a domestic violence case.

This week has truly been appalling for the sport. One half represented the United States, and the other half of this demon represents the United Kingdom. Lets be honest here, both countries do not have much to shout about on the World stages these days.We both like to think we are pugilistic superpowers, but that is not the case, in this new world of emerging participants; Mexico, Philippines, Germany. I am being genuinely serious when I say this, but this really is not great news. Sure, I to a degree relate to the phrase ‘any press is good press’, but not when you start bringing racism and rape slurs into your vocabulary. Individuals who find it funny to laugh at such jokes, are generally of the Neanderthal breed, and I have no time for these people, they are a stain on society. But when you have arguably 2 of the biggest fighters in the sport stating such drivel to a massive worldwide audience, then its going to be a downward projectory from here on in.

The biggest threat to our beloved sport is not the UFC, nor is it the TV companies, or the fans who have left the sport over the last few years; ironically due to fighters like Mayweather handpicking fights and not exhibiting his undoubted skill against as many world class and relevant opponents as possible. The biggest threat is now this seriously damaging press which I can only assume will stay in our papers and on our Websites for some time. I am personally angry at how these 2 fighters, who really took my love of Boxing to a new level, then much like how our soccer players act when the money starts rolling in, the paying fan, like you and me, is tossed to the garbage and alienated. On another point, I wonder how many of these disaffected fans have switched to UFC? Funnily enough, I have just subscribed to a TV company to watch it. Maybe there is a link. Make no mistake, we are in trouble folks, and I am not trying to paint some doomsday theory, where the actual existence of Boxing will disappear, that would be ludicrous. What I am talking about is the sheer audacity of fighters like Haye and Mayweather, to walk away from the 2 biggest fights in the history of modern Boxing, then to represent the very same sport that made them who they are today, in such a despicable manner. Manny, Audley, you got yourself 2 new fans.

Forget the theories that 1 champion in each division, or 3 fights per fighter per year will drag us back to the golden ages, it will not, and it will never happen. What we need to do is encourage and pay back the core demographic of fans and followers that pay for these bouts and its fighters; they are getting pretty peed off right now. On top of all this, we have the Top Rank merry-go-round, with appalling undercards and match-ups happening constantly, its drivel. No wonder TV companies pulled out of live coverage a long time ago. I want to wake up one day next year, with fight posters of Mayweather V Pacquiao and Klitschko V Haye on my wall. That is where I, and every other fan on this planet wants to be, saying thank God the dark days over. Unfortunately we are at rock bottom as a whole, and fans of singular fighters or who just flick in and out of the sport, need to realise its a team sport effectively. You have to ask yourself, what has ‘Hayeweather’ bought to the table over the last few years? My list is short, and includes the words possibility, opportunity, embarrassment.

On a positive note, I am looking forward to tonight’s superb bout between Wladimir Klischtko and Samuel Peters. Its a sequel, its free on TV, its on nice and early in Europe, and its for 3 straps. The defending champion is a great role model for the sport, and for all the criticism he gets outside of Europe, he is a still a great flag bearer the Boxing world, and is also a fine, technically gifted fighter. His opponent has a hammer of a right, is in good form, and has knocked Wlad down 3 times previously. Its going to be a cracker, lets roll.

 

[trips]

Wladimir Klitschko vs Samuel Peter

http://espn.go.com/espn3/player?id=35791

 

[T-Rip]

lol so I guess Hattons career is officially over



The News of the World, a British tabloid, has released videos and photos of former two-division champion and Manchester native Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton snorting a few lines of blow. I know Ricky does not enjoy the nickname Ricky “Fatton,” maybe he wants to separate himself from that nickname for one like “Cocaine Ricky.”

All jokes aside this is a serious matter and MyBoxingFans.com hopes Ricky Hatton gets the help he may need to remedy the situation and do what’s best for himself and his family.

Hatton is not the only British superstar pugilist that has been caught recently in a cocaine scandal. Retired undefeated former light heavyweight champion of the world Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32KOs), was caught by a British tabloid on camera inquiring about the purchase of cocaine.

Information on how the film was obtained, by who and when has not been provided. The paper’s website is promising to release more footage of Manchester, England’s beloved cocaine cowboy over the upcoming hours and MyBoxingFans.com will have more on this developing story.

 

[heyzel]

Dirrell vs. Ward: Fight still up in the air for September 25th

By Scott Gifloid: There’s only a couple of weeks to go before the September 25th scheduled fight between Super Six tourney talents Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell, and yet we still don’t know whether the fight will be taking place on this date or not. As of now, there’s no venue and without a venue, this fight can’t take place. This would be a great tragedy if we can’t see this bout in September, even though I think this fight should be reserved for the finals.


It should be Dirrell and Ward taking on Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham instead. That would be the perfect match-up, because then we’d have Dirrell and Ward, both Americans, weeding out the European fighters to get to the finals of the Super Six tournament. Dirrell looked sensational in his last fight against Abraham in March, beating him to the punch all night and making him look like a rank amateur.

Before this fight took place, there were many people who were picking Abraham to win the entire Super Six tournament because of his knockout of Jermain Taylor last year in October. Dirrell quickly showed early in the Abraham fight that he wasn’t another Taylor, and began to dominate Abraham with ease.

The Dirrell-Ward match-up should be a fight that will make both of these fighters huge stars, win or lose.

 

[heyzel]

Steward had to tell Wladimir to stop clinching Peter

By Dave Lahr: In looking at last Saturday’s bout between IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and challenger Samuel Peter, I couldn’t help but notice that Wladimir’s trainer Emanuel Steward was practically begging Wladimir to stop clinching Peter after the 9th round. It’s too bad that Steward had to wait so long to get on Wladimir’s case, because Wladimir had been clinching after almost every punch since first round of the fight.


All that clinching really did a great job of gumming up the fight and making it hard for Peter to throw punches, because of the way that Wladimir was grabbing him all the time and leaning on him. Take away the clinching, and Wladimir would have been like a boat without a paddle, floundering at high sea.
Another thing I noticed is that Wladimir had to wait until his trainer Steward told him to go after Peter before he did anything.

You could see that Peter was half dead from having to support all that weight of Wladimir’s 245 pound body every time he would grab Peter in one of his many clinches every round. Peter looked tuckered out by the 6th round from having to hold Wladimir up during every clinch. Wladimir should have opened up on him earlier in the fight instead of just hunting and pecking away with jabs all night long. Why is that Steward needs to tell Wladimir go after his opponents? What’s up with that?

I think Wladimir doesn’t have the killer instinct. It’s missing until Steward jumps his case and gives Wladimir a good tongue lashing. Instead of just nodding and agreeing with Steward, Wladimir argues with him sometime, as if he knows what’s going on. If Steward is telling Wladimir that he’s screwing up, he should accept it as gospel instead of giving Steward a little lip. We need a little more discipline here. I think Steward needs to teach Wladimir how to be aggressive like he used to be.

Then have him go and take on someone like WBA heavyweight champion David Haye or Peter without clinching. Id’ like to see that, but I’m not holding my breath on that happening any time soon. Without clinching, Wladimir would be getting hit a heck of a lot more and with his fragile chin, we might seeing him get knocked cold on a regular basis. But it’s better that then seeing him holding all the time. I just wish Jay Nady was working the Klitschko-Peter fight, because he doesn’t go for fighters that clinch. He’d have Wladimir fighting or else he’d likely be losing all kinds of points left and right.

 

[heyzel]

Wladimir Klitschko to fight again in December against Mormeck or Tua

By Eric Thomas: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) plans on making a quick return to the ring in December against either 38-year-old former cruiserweight champion Jean Marc Mormeck or 37-year-old David Tua, according to news from Bild. Klitschko, 34, easily dispatched Samuel Peter in a one-sided 10th round TKO last Saturday night in Frankfurt, Germany. Wladimir says “I would like to fight on the 4th or 11th of December again.”


As for WBA heavyweight champion David Haye and top contender Tomasz Adamek, both of those fights are bouts that Klitschko will be looking to make in early 2011. However, the fight with Haye depends on whether the British heavyweight actually wants to mix it up with Wladimir or his brother WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. Thus far, Haye hasn’t been eager to fight either of the Klitschko brothers. He may be even less interested in fighting Wladimir after seeing how easily he beat Peter last Saturday.

Wladimir was rarely hit in that fight, which would help explain why he wants to get back in the ring so quickly. Another reason why is because he likes to fight and enjoys entertaining the huge German crowds that come to see his fights in Germany. There were over 45,000 fans that came out for his rematch against Peter on Saturday.

Mormeck would seem like a strange option for Wladimir, because he’s only had two fights at heavyweight and is coming off of a gift 10 round decision over Fres Oquendo in May, a fight that took place in Mormeck’s home country of France. Many people felt that Mormeck lost this fight. In 2007, Mormeck was stopped in the 7th round by Haye while fighting as a cruiserweight. Mormeck was able to knock Haye down in that fight before getting stopped in the 7th. It might be interesting to see how easly – or not so easily – Wladimir handles Mormeck. However, given Mormeck’s limited 5’11″ height, it’s doubtful he would be able to do much against the 6’6″ Klitschko.

Tua, 37, is coming off of an unimpressive 12 round draw against journeyman Monte Barrett in July. Tua was knocked down and badly hurt in the 12th round of that fight. Wladimir has already destroyed Barrett years ago. If Tua is struggling to beat guys like Barrett, it’s not likely he’ll be able to do anything at all against the much taller Klitschko. Tua stands 5’10″, and would be giving away an enormous amount of height and reach to Wladimir. This fight would have mismatch written all over it.

 

[heyzel]

Hatton to enter rehab clinic for cocaine addition

By Sean McDaniel: Former IBF light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KO’s) is reportedly going to be entering a rehab clinic for cocaine addition this week, according to boxing news from the Mirror.co.uk. Hatton, 31, was caught snorting seven lines of what appeared to be cocaine in a video given to the site News of the World. The incident took place two weeks ago in a Hotel in Manchester, England. Hatton was observed chopping up the white power with his credit card and then snorting seven lines in front of a video camera.


According to the Mirror, Hatton has told his girlfriend Jennifer Dooley, saying “I’ve been an idiot and I’m so sorry and ashamed. I need and want to sort myself out.”

Hatton, who looks to have put on at least 60 pounds since his last fight against Manny Pacquiao a year ago in May, has reportedly been using cocaine for almost a year – says the Mirror – after he lost to Pacquiao by 2nd round knockout.

It’s unclear whether the rehab clinic will be focusing only on cocaine or other drugs, such as alcohol. Hatton was said to have drank at least 11 pints of Guinness on the same night, along with four glasses of vodka and two glasses of wine. Needless to say, this is a huge amount of alcohol to drink for a person who stands only 5’6”. Hatton might want to get help in this area as well, because drinking can be just as serious a problem as cocaine if a person is overdoing it.

Judging by the high amount of alcoholic beverages Hatton drank on that night, I think it’s something Hatton might need a tad bit of help with. His weight has ballooned from a slender 140 to over 200 pounds in the past year, and all of that weight can’t be attributed to Hatton just eating well. Drinking has a part in it.

 

[heyzel]

The Klitschko Division

By Mark Hepplestall: There are currently 3 recognized world champions in the heavyweight division, who are Vitali Klitschko (WBC), Wladimir Klitschko (IBO, WBO and IBF) and David Haye (WBA). These three world champions are leagues above the current contenders and hot prospects, this can be seen by looking at the worlds heavyweight rankings which shows that the majority with the exception of Tomasz Adamek have challenged for a world title and lost miserably to either Wladimir Klitschko or Vitali Klitschko, two of the three boxers that David Haye has fought since moving up to heavyweight have now retired. The heavyweight division is dominated by the Klitschko brothers who have unbelievable technical ability, a bulletproof defence, power matched only by David Haye in my opinion and most importantly tactical superiority. Unfortunately the majority of the heavyweight contenders are very one dimensional relaying on landing a big shot, this direct power game can be easily out worked and out smarted. Also the Klitschko brothers have pretty much beaten everyone worth beating (once Vitali beats Shannon Briggs, which will be very similar to Wlad Vs Peter II) except David Haye and after that fight there will be nobody left, so who is left ? rumors have it Wladimir’s next fight if not with Haye will be against Jean Marc Mormeck, and that will be even more one sided then Wlad Vs Peter.


1. Ruslan Chagaev, beaten in a one sided fight against Wladimir Klitschko, but now the mandatory challenger to David Haye’s World Boxing Association title, however this fight is very unlikely to happen due to public pressure for the Wladimir Klitschko fight, and most importantly Chagaev has Hepatitis B, which is an incurable disease spread by blood to blood contact, this is very troublesome for Chagaev to make fights as any cuts that develop in fights could spread the disease. Furthermore boxers cannot get a license in the UK or USA with Hepatitis B, which would restrict any possible fight to Eastern Europe and I doubt Haye would travel into hostile territory to fight, as he isn’t the most loved of the heavyweight champions.

2. Tomasz Adamek, is a Former light heavyweight world champion and former cruiserweight world champion. Adamek flew in under the radar in the heavyweight division, he never made noise and took his time working his way up by fighting journeymen and an overrated hype job in Arreola. The fact he isn’t fighting quality opponents is a major worry, as soon he will have to jump up in quality from people who have lost 5 fights to Vitali Klitschko who could beat Adamek’s opponents with one arm. Adamek possesses good skills; good movement but lacks much needed power and speed. In fact since moving up two weight divisions Adamek has lost large amounts of speed and has not added power with the weight he has added. Good fight would be Adamek Vs Haye

3. Alexander Povetkin, former Olympic gold medallist, backed out of the Wladimir Klitschko fight because his trainer thought he was not ready for the fight, which is true as he is still a youngster in boxing terms only having 19 fights against questionable opposition. His best attributes are his power and technical ability; he is not a one dimensional fighter like the current contenders. Possibly a future world champion when Vitali retires.

4. Alexander Dimitrenko, lost once to Eddie Chambers and that was his only step up in opposition. Dimitrenko is now the number one contender to the EBU title and was thought to be fighting Audley Harrison before he got a title shot against David Haye. Overall Alexander Dimitrenko is very one dimensional, just a power puncher, maybe a threat to David Haye yet no threat to Vitali or Wladimir.

5. Denis Boytsov, undefeated Russian boxer who sports a 27(22)-0(0)-0 record, possesses great power, technical ability and great movement. Also he moves away from the overweight heavyweight image to more of a ripped physical specimen like the top 4 heavyweights in the world. Possible future world champion, needs to face better opposition maybe time to challenge for the EBU.

6. Odlanier Solis, not ready for a title fight, not even actively boxing had 16 fights and the biggest fight was against Monte Barrett. Solis is 30 years old and needs to keep very active in this younger stage of his career, maybe needs to fight against a top contender like Juan Carlos Gomez to make some waves in stagnant heavyweight pond.

Additional mentions include Alexander Ustinov, who is not progressing as quickly as needed. Ustinov is now 33 years old and most notably beat Paolo Vidoz and Monte Barrett. Maybe a bout against Dimitrenko would help the winner shoot up the world rankings.

I cannot think of any American boxers who deserve a mention and the likes of Derek Chisora and Tyson fury have not even become the best in Britain yet never mind the world. However British heavyweight scene is on the up and a true contender may be present in the next 4 years.

 

[heyzel]

Fighting Words” – Five New, True Champions Resetting Their Divisions

by David P. Greisman

The number of fighters with world title belts only serves to confuse. The number of fighters who are truly champions only serves to enlighten.

Between the 17 weight classes and the four major sanctioning bodies, there are a total of 83 fighters with world title belts, be they world champs, super champs, “regular” champs, or interim champs. That’s not even including the diamond champs, champs in recess, champs emeritus or silver champs.

Thankfully.

There are seven true champions.

83?

No wonder so many boxing fans can’t tell their Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (WBC, cruiserweight) from their Oleydong Sithsamerchai (WBC, strawweight).

7?

Seven.

Wladimir Klitschko. Jean Pascal. Sergio Martinez. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Juan Manuel Marquez. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. Giovanni Segura.

So, so much simpler.

Klitschko has been champion – defined here as recognized by “The Ring” magazine and/or by the Cyber Boxing Zone website lineage – since 2009, when he stopped the other top heavyweight out there, Ruslan Chagaev. Marquez has been champion since 2008, when he scored a technical knockout over Ring champ Joel Casamayor.

Everyone else earned the recognition this year.

Pascal beat Chad Dawson in a battle of the two top light heavyweights. Martinez outpointed Kelly Pavlik to take the lineal middleweight championship. Mayweather won a decision over Mosley to regain the throne at welterweight. Wonjongkam beat Koki Kameda to return to flyweight prominence. And Segura put Ivan Calderon down for the count to become the man at 108 pounds.

There have been multiple years in the past decade in which champions have been crowned in as many or more divisions: 2008, 2006, 2005 and 2001. In 2005, new champions came into power at cruiserweight, middleweight, welterweight, junior welterweight, lightweight, junior featherweight and super flyweight. That’s seven divisions – eight if you consider the Antonio Tarver/Glen Johnson/Roy Jones Jr. “Ring Magazine” belt at light heavyweight to carry more importance than the Zsolt Erdei/Julio Cesar Gonzalez/Darius Michalczewski lineage.

What these new champions have done in 2010 is reset their divisions – mostly for good, though not completely.

Pascal has conditionally freed the light heavyweight division from the closed circuit it could’ve been with Dawson as king. Dawson has a contractually obligated rematch, though Pascal is allowed to have another fight first.

While Dawson is talented, the way he has been promoted would potentially limit the opponents he would fight. He does not sell tickets. He makes his money through a lucrative HBO contract. And so he only fights the foes HBO approves.

Pascal, meanwhile, puts butts in seats in Montreal. He does not have an exclusive television contract in the United States. And so he can face a number of fighters, be they light heavyweights or rising super middleweights.

Had Dawson beaten Pascal, we would’ve seen Dawson face Tavoris Cloud or Lucian Bute in his next fight. If Pascal gets by Bernard Hopkins first, and then wins the Dawson rematch, we could see Pascal against Cloud, Bute, Beibut Shumenov, Glen Johnson, or any of the European light heavyweights who, because of a lack of name recognition on American soil, probably would not have been featured on HBO against Dawson.

Sergio Martinez, meanwhile, rejuvenates the middleweight division almost solely because his next opponent will be someone that the former champion, Kelly Pavlik, never faced: Paul Williams.

Pavlik-Williams fell apart at the negotiating table, which thankfully eventually led to last year’s sensational fight between Martinez and Williams. Now it looks as if the pair will have a rematch. From there, the winner could face either middleweights or rising junior middleweights.

They are fighters who are more likely to face Martinez because he is much smaller for the division than Pavlik is. They are fights that are more likely to happen because they are fresh match-ups – Pavlik’s championship reign felt stale at times due to a lack of valid contenders.

Martinez has been a traveling man before. He could go to Germany to face Felix Sturm, Sebastian Sylvester, Sebastian Zbik, or Gennady Golovkin. He could stay in the States and try to unify with Dmitry Pirog – a fight HBO would likely pay for as a “World Championship Boxing” co-feature.

That’s if Martinez beats Williams. And if Williams wins, what happens next depends on whether he chooses to move back down to welterweight or junior middleweight.

Floyd Mayweather Jr., meanwhile, has not rejuvenated the welterweights. He doesn’t need to. Though he is the top guy after his win over Mosley, he does not own any of the four major sanctioning belt titles. The division does go on without him. None of the beltholders are refusing to fight and holding out for a shot at Mayweather.

But boxing fans aren’t content with looking at beltholders and regarding them as four of the best. They want to know who the one true champ is.

That is Mayweather, for the moment. And they want to see Mayweather face Manny Pacquiao.

That topic’s been covered ad infinitum. Mayweather-Pacquiao didn’t happen in 2010. It would take a major breakthrough for the two egos to give in and for the fight to happen in 2011.

Mayweather’s ditched the championship before, dropping it after his 2008 retirement from the sport. If he were to do so again, deciding to remain inactive or to fight in another division, then a new champ could be designated in his vacancy.

Then the fun would really begin.

The four belts are held by Berto, Pacquiao, Vyacheslov Senchenko and Jan Zaveck. “The Ring” has Pacquiao and Berto rated at No. 2 and No. 3. They would each move up a spot and could then face each other for the championship. That’s if Pacquiao doesn’t remain at junior middleweight (where he’s facing Antonio Margarito this fall).

Down at flyweight, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam regained the lineal championship he’d previously held from 2001 to 2008. Though “The Ring” said Wonjongkam gained a vacant championship, that is because the magazine had reset its championship policy last decade. By lineage – the man who beat the man who beat the man – the championship went from Wonjongkam to Daisuke Naito to Koki Kameda and back to Wonjongkam.

Wonjongkam fights often – 80 bouts in nearly 14 years – though not always against top opposition. There is nothing new that comes to the flyweight division with his regaining the championship. Rather, it is another reset, a top guy for the best 112-pounders to take on, a top guy who’s been willing to face the best contenders so long as the bouts are in Thailand or Japan.

Clarity is better than vacancy.

Finally, there is Giovanni Segura, who knocked out Ivan Calderon last month with a body shot, ending eight rounds of great battling and ending Calderon’s unbeaten streak.

Calderon, formerly a 105-pound titlist, became champion at 108 by beating the other top fighters in the division, taking decision wins, for instance, over Hugo Cazares and Rodel Mayol.

Though Calderon was slowing down with age, fighters still had difficulty handling his speed and supreme boxing ability.

Segura presents a different challenge: He is a banger, having scored 21 knockouts in his 25 victories.

A different challenge means a different landscape for the junior flyweights.

Even if Segura were to face the same foes Calderon defended against, the pairings would be fresh. Either Segura will blaze through the opposition, or he will face a test, perhaps coming out triumphant, perhaps falling in defeat.

Either way, it will be interesting.

That is all we can ask for. With 83 beltholders in 17 weight classes, there is no lack of new pairings or new opportunities.

But sometimes it’s hard to know where to look. Cable subscribers have hundreds of channels. Sometimes there still isn’t anything worth watching on television.

The new reigns of Pascal, Martinez, Mayweather, Wonjongkam and Segura might not end up being long-running series. But at least viewers have a central storyline should they choose to tune in.

The 10 Count

1. Boxers Behaving Badly, part one: Floyd Mayweather Jr. is to boxing what Jay Mariotti is to sports pundits. Why? Because there seems to be a certain sense of joy that is coming from many due to the news of Mayweather’s legal troubles.

People like to see those with large egos get knocked down through some sort of comeuppance. While Mayweather must be presumed innocent before proven guilty, this case provides such a scenario for those who passionately dislike the 33-year-old welterweight champion.

Mayweather was arrested this past Friday on charges of grand larceny stemming from an incident in which he allegedly assaulted and threatened Josie Harris, an ex-girlfriend who is the mother of his children. She was taken to the hospital for minor injuries.

“He awoke me by pulling me by my hair and throwing me on the ground in my living room and began punching me in my head, dragging me on the floor and twisting my arm back in an attempt to try and break it,” Harris wrote in an application for a restraining order filed afterward and obtained by TMZ.com.

The larceny charge comes from Mayweather allegedly taking some of Harris’s stuff, including her cell phone, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Mayweather’s lawyer said the cell phone is missing but that Mayweather did not take it.

The Review-Journal notes that Harris accused Mayweather of assaulting her in December 2003 but she recanted her testimony during his trial in 2005. Mayweather was found not guilty in that case. He does have convictions from a 2002 case of domestic violence and a 2005 assault on two women in a nightclub.

Mayweather was arrested after speaking to police officers about this case. Police have recommended that prosecutors also pursue a charge of misdemeanor domestic violence – officers can only make an arrest within 24 hours of that alleged crime, the newspaper said.

In the ring, Mayweather is 41-0 with 25 knockouts. His last fight was his May decision win over Shane Mosley.

2. Ricky Hatton, meanwhile, was caught on tape two weeks ago working through more cocaine than Tony Montana would know what to do with.

The British tabloid News of the World has video of Hatton doing the drug – the video was taken by a female fighter friend – and a story describing a “10-hour drink and drugs binge.”

So the saying goes: Idle hands are the devil’s tools.

An observation, in jest: Paris Hilton hides her cocaine in her hoo-ha. Ricky Hatton keeps his in his shoe.

The situation, in reality: Such news is frightening and sad, reading the tabloid’s reports of “a marathon 10-hour bender including seven lines of coke in three separate drug sessions, 11 pints of Guinness, four vodkas, two glasses of wine and several Sambucas.”

If true, one hopes that Hatton can break himself of the habit and find peace and health in what is presumably his retirement.

3. Mike Tyson will be in “Men in Black 3.” Lemme guess – we’ll learn that Tyson is really an alien, and that’ll explain EVERYthing.

4. Tyson teased this news on Twitter, writing a week ago that he “just got another part in a big movie, stay tuned for details. I’m so grateful to still have opportunities at this stage in the game.”

Our report on BoxingScene.com cited a sports radio show in Las Vegas, whose host, in turn, was citing a barber who also cuts Tyson’s hair.

So…

David Greisman is writing that Ryan Burton is reporting that Seat Williams said on the radio that his barber said that Mike Tyson will be in “Men in Black 3.”

I feel like I’m back in high school…

5. Samuel Peter once thought he was unstoppable but found out otherwise. Wladimir Klitschko found out he was stoppable but learned how to be unstoppable again.

Peter would’ve needed to regress into his fearless, reckless old style to even try to get Klitschko out of his comfort zone. He didn’t.

But it wouldn’t have mattered. Klitschko has evolved and improved and mastered his technique and style. At no point this past Saturday in his rematch with Peter did Klitschko have the look on his face that he did in their first fight five years ago.

He’s conquered his fears. And he’s conquered the heavyweight division.

6. Did anyone else watching Yuriorkis Gamboa’s win this past Saturday over Orlando Salido have a flashback during the 12th round?

Gamboa knocked Salido down, then, with Salido down on one knee and leaning on a glove, Gamboa gave Salido a slap to the back of the head. The referee, Joe Cortez, stepped in.

Suddenly I was back at June 28, 2008, watching the fourth round of Humberto Soto’s first fight with Francisco Lorenzo. Soto has Lorenzo hurt. Lorenzo takes a knee. Soto misses with a right uppercut but lands a glancing left just behind the crown of Lorenzo’s cranium.

The referee, Joe Cortez, steps in. Soto gets disqualified.

Thank goodness Salido didn’t try any of the histrionics that Lorenzo got away with. Cortez took two points from Gamboa, and Gamboa went on to get the unanimous decision.

7. My thoughts on the ESPN-aired documentary One Night in Vegas – there were problems with both its thesis and its follow-through.

The movie is based on the 1996 shooting death of Tupac Shakur, which happened shortly after the rapper left the casino where Mike Tyson had knocked out Bruce Seldon.

Except “One Night in Vegas” didn’t spend much of its time on that one night in Vegas. Rather, most of the movie was spent bringing the story’s protagonists to that night, showing how Tupac and Tyson got there.

This would’ve been fine had the film illuminated the events of that one night in Vegas. Instead, there was less exploring of Tupac’s shooting death than has been done by others, and there wasn’t any investigation into whether Seldon took a dive against Tyson.

The problem is that whatever happened in Vegas that night really is more about Tupac, not Tyson. While Tyson and Tupac had some kind of friendship, his fight is very, very secondary to Tupac’s death.

Boxing commentator Bob Sheridan tried to insert the logic that Tyson was never the same after this night, referencing the three losses in Tyson’s final four fights against guys he never would’ve had trouble with before.

One of those guys was Lennox Lewis, so throw that out the window. As for the other two, Danny Williams and Kevin McBride, well, those losses came eight and nine years after the Seldon fight.

It was a forced essay. I didn’t buy the lines that Tyson was Tupac in boxer form and Tupac was Tyson in rapper form. And I thought the beat poetry and comic-book art were gimmicks, a filmmaker trying to be too cute to make up for his lack of a solid storyline.

8. Boxers Behaving Badly, part two, lightning round edition:

- Tosca Petridis, a retired Australian cruiserweight, has been charged with assaulting a man outside of a bar, according to The Age. In the ring, he was 9-5-1 with five knockouts. Three of his fights were against name opponents: a win in his second pro fight, against Iran Barkley; and losses to Wayne Braithwaite and Paul Briggs.

- Les Mason, a former heavyweight from Australia, was fined $1000 after pleading guilty to possessing nine tablets of methamphetamine, according to the Newcastle Herald. Mason’s entire pro career saw him fight four times in 2007, going 3-1 (2 KOs).

- And, in an update, a judge has overturned the conviction of British featherweight prospect Samir Mouneimne, who had been found guilty of assaulting two women, according to the Hull Daily Mail. The 23-year-old is 4-0-1 with 1 knockout.

9. Is there any way we can convince Monte Barrett to come out of retirement and do to Tyson Fury (6-foot-9, 263 pounds) what he did to Tye Fields (6-foot-8, 265 pounds)?

10. Danny Green vs. BJ Flores, Nov. 17, Perth, Australia, a fight that will be for Green’s fringe IBO title.

I don’t know what’s more of a surprise – that Green is finally facing a quality cruiserweight opponent, or that Flores is finally facing a quality cruiserweight opponent…

 

[heyzel]

Emanuel Steward: Forget Haye, Adamek is Making Noise

By Mark Vester

Forget WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, trainer Emanuel Steward would like to see Wladimir Klitschko fight popular Polish fighter Tomasz Adamek. Klitschko defended his WBO/IBO/IBF titles on Saturday in Frankfurt with a ten round TKO of Samuel Peter. Adamek is said to be returning in December against rugged Vinny Maddalone, and then there have been rumors about a fight with WBC champion and older brother Vitali Klitschko in March. Vitali still has to beat Shannon Briggs on October 16.

Steward said he can't believe the situation with both Klitschko brothers, as the champions, having such a tough time securing opponents.

"It is strange, we have two champions and they have a problem to get challengers, I have never seen that before," Steward said. "Everyone is running from the champions, I don't think we will ever see that again. It really doesn't matter, (who we fight next) they are all the same as far as I am concerned."

The Klitschko camp might entertain another round of negotiations with Haye, who defends against Audley Harrison on November 13. Steward doesn't see the fight happening. He would rather have Wladimir focus on Adamek. The Polish fighter is quickly becoming the mandatory challenger to Wladimir's WBO belt.

"David Haye has talked himself into a good fight, but then ran away, so he's not even worth talking about," said Steward. "The most logical guy who is creating a lot of excitement and is becoming a mandatory in the WBO is Tomasz Adamek, he just beat (Chris) Arreola impresssively which I didn't think he would do."

 

[heyzel]

Gamboa: "Caballero, Juanma, John - Bring Them On!"

One of the most discussed questions at Pearl Theatre at The Palms Casino Resorts in Las Vegas after Yuriorkis Gamboa’s impressive unanimous decision win over Mexico’s Orlando Salido had nothing to do with the scoring of the judges (116-109, 115-109, 114-109) but with Gamboa’s style. Fans and experts argued whether they had seen a "new Gamboa" (as HBO’s Max Kellermann supposed) or the "same old fighter" with the same old flaws and sometimes sloppy defense.

"I feel that I am developing and improving with every fight", says Gamboa. "My trainer Ismael Salas and I have been working on different things and we made certain adjustments to my style. I felt – like in all of my pro-fights so far – that I was always in charge of the action and the better man in the ring. I don’t care too much if I win on points or by knockout as long as I leave the ring as winner."

Fact is, 2,000 fans at Pearl Theatre got to see a worthy "Battle of the Champions" as Top Rank had billed the unification bout. Gamboa started as aggressive and offensive as always pressuring him opponent from the opening bell on. In the mid-rpunds Salido adjusted better to Gamboa’s style and fought back despite being hit by some hard shots and vicious combinations. The Cuban former amateur standout seemed impressed by Salido’s chin and the way the Mexican kept on going after him. Still Gamboa managed to adjust his game plan and change from unconditional to controlled offense.

In the 8th most spectators may have been reminded on the "old Gamboa" though when the Cuban slipped off-balance after missing a power shot which was ruled a knockdown by referee Joe Cortez. While "El Ciclon" has answered mistakes like that with immediate furious attacks in the past, in this fight he took two rounds until he he really hurt Salido with nice combinations and hard shots to the head.

In the 12th Gamboa finally floored Salido and was almost disqualified for punching after Salido went down for a second time in that round. Only Salido getting up from the canvas to continue fighting saved the Cuban from being disqualified.

"Salido proved to be a true gentleman", said Promoter Ahmet Öner. "I saw lots of guys taking advantage of similar situations forcing referees to wave off the fight. Salido showed a lot of heart and proved that he came to fight. This fight was another important experience for Gamboa on his way to the top of the world."

On his way all the way to the top, Gamboa may meet unbeaten WBO champion Juan Manuel Lopez sooner or later who watched the fight from ringside being invited by Top Rank and promoter Bob Arum.

"I have seen an excellent fight from both guys", commented JuanMa after the bout. "I congratulate Gamboa but I also saw some things I might be able to take advantage of in case we will fight soon. There are lots of excellent fighters out there at 126 at the moment with Gamboa, Chris Joihn and Celestino Caballero being three of the names I’m looking at."

First of all Lopez takes on Mexican ring legend Rafael Marquez in early November. „We’ll see where we go from there“, says Top Rank’s Bob Arum.

"I know that there is a lot of talk about me fighting JuanMa soon“, says Gamboa. "But it’s not my job to worry about that. I will leave this up to the promoters who want to put the fight together. I can only say that I am ready and up for the challenge. I want to prove that I am the best and to do so I have to beat everybody they put in front of him, no matter if his name is Salido, Rojas, John, Caballero or Lopez. Just bring 'em on!"

 

[REdRUM]

LOL, what's wrong with this dude^^^^?

There's a huge difference between a "BABY MOMMA" and a "PREGNANT WIFE" too!

I don't see where I condoned Floyd hittin' his baby momma.... I remember being sarcastic in one post. But in his defense, this woman has provoked him before and lied to the cops. So get at me when Floyd gets sent to prison to serve time like your favorite fighter did.

Back to boxing....

A woman is a woman, you dumb son of a bitch. 'BABY MOMMA AND PREGNANT WIFE'...who gives a shit. He won't fight Manny, but he'll fight a woman?

Get at me when Floyd's off vacation and done sparring with women, and finally decides to fight the P4P CHAMP.

 

[REdRUM]

"Floyd Mayweather can't be beat.... Pacquiao can't do it, his baby momma can't do it."

"Pacquiao is going to get whooped just like Sugar Shane and Josie Harris."

More words of wisdom from Tony. LOL keep beating them hoes, Floyd Jr.

 

[heyzel]

Froch Suffers Back Injury, Abraham Fight To Nov/Dec

By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com has confirmed, through reliable sources, that super middleweight Carl Froch has suffered a back injury and withdrew from his scheduled fight with Arthur Abraham on October 2 in Monaco. Froch did not show up for a press conference that was scheduled on Monday. It wasn't much later that his promoter Mick Hennessey informed all parties, including Showtime, that his fighter was injured and needed a few weeks to recover.

I've been informed by multiple parties that Sauerland Event is already working on rescheduling the fight to a date in November or December. The new date has to work for both fighters, Showtime, German network ARD and the venue in Monaco.

The latest injury is another blow for the third stage of the Super Six Boxing Classic. Two weeks ago, WBC champion champion Mikkel Kessler withdrew from the entire tournament with an eye injury. He later vacated his title. The remaining third stage bout between Andre Dirrell and Andre Ward is still scheduled for September 25 on Showtime's calendar, but everyone involved expects the fight to be postponed, likely to a date in October, as a venue and/or fight location has yet to be finalized.

 

[heyzel]

Vitali Klitschko Compares Wladimir With Muhammad Ali

By Alexey Sukachev

Russian media source “MK” (“Moscow Komsomolets”) contacted Vitali Klitschko, the WBC heavyweight champion of the world and the elder brother of the universally recognized heavyweight #1 in the world, to know more about Wladimir’s victory over Samuel Peter. Vitali expressed some interesting thoughts in his short speech with “MK” reporter and also compared Wladimir’s achievements with those of legendary Muhammad Ali.

“(Samuel) Peter was much better than he was five years ago but Wladimir is also different from himself of the past. He [Peter] was in great shape, he didn’t get tired, and he was aggressive. Wladimir was hit by almost no punches at all, he got no injuries and now he feels himself pretty well. All in all, my brother proved he was in different league with the Nigerian. Samuel had no chance at all, at least in his pre-fight shape."

He then continued, “There was a highlight reel on TV moments before a fight, which compared my brother with the living legend Muhammad Ali. I consider Wladimir’s achievements comparable with those of Ali. The only difference is that Wladimir hasn’t had worthy challengers to his throne. Ali had Smoking Joe Frazier, Big George Foreman and several more stalwarts, who were skillful enough to give him troubles in the ring. Wladimir hasn’t any of these sorts in front of him. There’s no boxer in the world that can cause him major problems. But comparing their technique, their ring strategies and their dominance you can have a point that Wladimir Klitschko is on the same level with the legend."