New York, NY– Every time one of the Klitschko bros. enters the ring, the entire sport of boxing has an existential crisis worthy of a Camus novel. What is the meaning of this sport, if two men, several inches and sometimes hundreds of pounds apart, are in the same division? Why even have a heavyweight division if skill is no longer the driving force behind obtaining a championship? Why not just end it all—the Sweet Science is dead, anyway? Well, before you start preparing that Ambien and cyanide salad, remember—it’s the good Klitschko that’s fighting this weekend!
NO USE BETTING AGAINST VITALI
Vitali Klitscko (39-2, 37 KOs) is making yet another defense to his record in Germany on Saturday against Albert Sosnowski (45-2-1, 27 KOs), who does not seem to have built his way up to fighting for a championship, but these days it’s worth giving anyone a chance. The obvious choice to put your money on here in Vitali, even if he is getting up there in age. He is still his division’s best, still very strong and as long as he doesn’t get hit too hard, he should be fine. Thus, this isn’t the type of fight we watch to speculate on the immediate future of the field. It won’t lead up to anything and won’t produce any new stars unless Sosnowski lands a major one-round knockout, but let’s not hold our breaths, shall we?
NOT ONE OF THE ALL-TIME GREATS
Instead, it’s a reflexive fight, one that serves to help define the significance of the heavyweight division and its place, both socially and athletically, in the grander scheme of boxing. Here’s the deal: the Klitschkos are not anywhere near legendary heavyweights. The division is too historically loaded for a pair of such dubious talent (and chin strength) to be considered, and in a hundred years boxing fans will look back mockingly at their monopoly over the division, if at all. Claiming the Klitschkos are all-time greats is like calling Martin Van Buren one of America’s greatest presidents: he wasn’t Warren G. Harding, but he wasn’t all that great, either. Vitali is the better of the two, by far, though part of this is due to the fact that, because of his age, he got the opportunity to take a beating from Lennox Lewis (41-2-1, 32 KOs). But they’re still both the best at what they do.
SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS
Forget about what that says about the state of the heavyweight division for a second and look around beyond them. The heavyweight division is a wasteland of talentless, lazy, old, sometimes simply smaller men that have been dwarfed by larger fighters with no skills but the discipline to hone the little they have. Chris Arreola (28-2, 25 KOs) was once considered a colorful hope in the sport, but it rapidly became apparent that he preferred his beer and burritos to a championship belt, and the alarm clock went off on that dream. Nikolay Valuev (50-2, 34 KOs) is still roaming around, but has lost the backing of those who thought that his size came with some sort of understanding of the sport of boxing. Is Sam Peter (34-3, 27 KOs) even still around? David Haye (24-1, 22 KOs) is the most respectable of the bunch, and even he has a long way to go.
ROOTING FOR THE UNDERDOG
Albert Sosnowski may not have ever fought anyone worthy of recognition, but what right do we have to criticize him over anyone else in the field? And as impressive as Klitschko’s reign of the heavyweight division may be, boxing fans must hope for an upset here, if only for something exciting (no, Chris Arreola crying doesn’t count) to finally happen.