Wladomr Klitschko
KLITSCHKO BEING DISSED BY AMERICANS?
San Francisco, CA– Whether or not you want to admit it or not, the era of Wladimir Klitschko, albeit in it’s final stages and after a somewhat shaky start, has been a run of dominance for a decade now. That’s right, World heavyweight champion Wladimir hasn’t lost a fight since March 2004.
UNEXPECTED LOSSES MADE KLITSCHKO SEARCH FOR REMEDY
When he started his ascent to the heavyweight throne there were lots of naysayers. Wlad had a bad chin, his endurance wasn’t good, he was uncoordinated. An Olympic champ in 1996, people were saying he fought sometimes like an amateur. After three inside the distance losses, running out of gas vs. the pedestrian Ross Purity, this before being hammered by the late Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster,
EMANUEL STEWARD MADE THE DIFFERENCE
The late Kronk Gym Goldfather Emanuel Steward is the sole reason Wladmir did not end up in the scrap heap. Steward told me one day, “There’s really no reason Wladimir Klitschko should ever lose a fight.” When I talked with Hall of Fame Larry Merchant hours after the Klitschko-Pulov fight in which Wlad dropped the Bulgarian four times in five rounds, Merchant had this to say. “Look, you’re not giving him his due. When he was coming up he fought like a welterweight because he had the ability to do so. That’s why he ran out of gas, not pacing himself. After getting cracked twice, Klitschko changed his style similar to brother Vitali.”
BOXING BEDTIME STORIES
In one of our many late night conversations over our 30+ year friendship trainer Emanuel Steward said this about Wladimir. “The man is 6’7, 250 lean lbs. of muscle, and he knows how to fight. What I’ve taught him to not go out there with guns blazing early, to pace himself and not throw each shot with intense power.”
KNOCKED DOWN IN GOLDFATHER DEBUT
“Since the Davaryl Williamson fight (which followed the Brewster defeat) Wladimir has tightened up his defense and he doesn’t leave his arms out there’ anymore. He is a natural athlete and with a few adjustments, he may have developed into the best heavyweight in history. They say numbers don’t lie Pedro, look at his record.”
CREAMS YET ANOTHER OPPONENT
On Saturday, the World heavyweight champion of boxing will face unbeaten Bulgarian #1 ranked Kubret Pulov in Germany before a standing room only crowd. The fight will NOT be televised in the United States. It not being on TV here is not really a problem for fanatics as they wil find it somewhere on the Internet. But for the fight fan who longs for a heavyweight title fight on TV in primetime, it ain’t gonna happen during Wlad’s reign.
HBO BOSS COULDN’T GET KLITSCHO’S OVER
Former HBO Sports czar Ross Greenburg once said something to the effect of, “We’ve spent over $50 million promoting the Klitschko’s and most people don’t know there are two of them.” Having found a lot of faults in HBO Boxing, not getting the Klitschko’s “over” here is one of their biggest blunders. White, big, if HBO could not get them over as Babyfaces (good guys), why didn’t they try pushing them as heels (bad guys) because when you look at the Rocky movies, the Ivan Drago character got over big!
STEWARD HAD ANSWER TO THAT
“Pedro, they are both gentlemen with excellent manners who are not products of any ghetto. Things weren’t great in Ukraine but the Klitschko family was able to put food on the table. To try and turn them into loud mouth street thugs would not be possible. As for as playing the Ivan Drago role in American boxing, Wlad isn’t mean. He’s a positive role model, something the world has a shortage of especially in boxing.”
AND THE BOTTOM LINE IS?
We have a dominant World heavyweight champion that hasn’t lost in 10 1/2 years who wins primarily inside the route and American fight fans don’t care. Next up for the champ is probably Philadelphian Bryant Jennings (19-0, 10 KOs), who will be dwarfed by Klitschko in height, weight, reach and power.
ONLY POTENTIAL COMPETITION FOR WLADIMIR
Perhaps the winner of the mandated WBC encounter between champion Bermane Stivern (24-1-1, 21 KOs) and unbeaten 2008 Olympian Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) could threaten Klitschko, Don King promoted Stiverne with his unorthodox style and right hand. The hope for HBO and the American Boxing Establishment is that the 6’7 Wilder smokes Stiverne like a Haitian blunt and being 6’7 could conceivably beat Wladimir and bring the title bcd across the pond. Good luck on that one!
Pedro Fernandez