On Sky Sports, they gave Wladimir Klitschko VS David Haye all the press it demanded, from the first time Haye started to press the issue of potentially moving up to heavyweight and beating both Klitschko brothers and cleaning out the division. He succeeded in cleaning out Nikolay Valuev and John Ruiz, but the rest was much more complicated. There were multiple failed attempts for the parties to come together to make those matches. Promotional disagreements, injuries, mandatories, but they had a very long time to drum up interest in the threat of the cruiserweight destroyer.
As the match neared, there came a silly element of promotion in David Haye's shirt, and David Haye refusing to shake Wladimir's hand, as well as David Haye finally refusing to even meet face to face with the champion at Sky Sports' studio, even though he was at the building somewhere. Sky had to go to the trouble of split-screening them from their regular studio and wherever Haye was in the building. Days or weeks before, when the handshake issue came up during a presser, Wladimir, not seemingly amused, said "You don't want to shake the champ's hand?"
(Haye held one major title claim, Vitali another, Wlad two others, if that's not too absurd to comprehend-But Wladimir was clearly top dog)
Here, at the split-screen interview for Sky, it got even goofier, as Wladimir began to ask Haye to come and see him and shake his hand. "Shake the hand, dude...Come on." Then, starting to wave his hand up and down across the screen, he began to refer to his hand as the magic hand as he watched himself and Haye in the monitor. "Shake the magic hand." Listen, we all want to believe we have a magic hand, I like to think. But Klitschko's hand was more magic and he eventually won their bout by UD, with no rematch ever seemingly necessary, in 2011.
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One thing you cannot fault the Klitschko brothers/Bernd Boente matches for is a lack of pre-fight production values. Even the lesser name opponents like Mariusz Wach, the first ever Wladimir Klitschko challenger to have all of weight, height and reach over him, to my knowledge, received a very melodramatic intro, pertaining to his nickname, The Viking.
Just before this introduction, from the 2012 match in Berlin, the fans got another production from the nightmares and dreamscapes of modern man in Rocky The Musical. Which, again, really did happen.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was November of 2012, in Berlin, Germany's O2 Arena. Not only did they host the literally, physically huge heavyweight title fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Mariusz Wach, but German theatricality, if nothing else, prevailed when they also hosted Sylvester Stallone and Rocky The Musical. I may be mistaken, but, let's say the actors are Drew Sarich as Rocky, Wietske van Tongeren as Adrian and Terence Archie as Apollo.
This really happened, just before Klitschko turned Mariusz Wach into Tex Cobb from the Holmes fight. I did not hallucinate this. The heavyweight championship of the world was contested following a brief musical play about fictional boxers. This really happened. I am not crazy.
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As best as I can tell, this footage is from a now defunct outlet's interview, The Fight Countdown. But if they're out there somewhere and I've missed it, credit to them. Either way, this is from back when the heavyweight division's controversy, almost incomprehensibly, was about a mere shirt. Former cruiserweight champion and heavyweight titlist David Haye had been preparing to destroy the division's giant brothers, the Klitschkos, and he had a shirt to display his intentions, portraying himself with Wladimir and Vitali's severed heads. The controversy was that the Klitschko family found this appalling and over the line. Amusingly, Wladimir's dear friend and HOF trainer, Emanuel Steward, took one look at Haye's shirt and he could not be more enthused!
David's only fought four times since his unanimous decision defeat to Wladimir Klitschko in 2011, thanks in part to being riddled with injuries from a grueling sport. That said, he is scheduled to fight Tony Bellew this year. Even despite the inactivity, he may be able to get another big win on his record. Either way, making Emanuel this happy is one of the biggest wins you can ask for, if you ask me.
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In March of 2001, Wladimir Klitschko defended a then-lightly-regarded WBO heavyweight title against another very large man with a very large punch named Derrick Jefferson. Derrick, perhaps, was and is still best known for an unlikely heavyweight classic with Maurice Harris on HBO. I believe he was briefly a Ring-ranked contender. Unlike the way fans became used to Klitschko boxing, this one was just a short, brutal, kill or be killed, heavyweight action fight that wasted no time at all for either fighter.
Recently, Vasyl Lomachenko has been highlighted as pawing/batting down an opponent's guard to land his shot like this, although I don't recall seeing it followed by a dramatic flattening just yet. This is a beauty. Open him up, put him down. Boxing.
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41-year-old Wladimir Klitschko weighs in to fight undefeated 27-year-old titlist Anthony Joshua and gives a somewhat misplaced peace sign as he shows his destructive physique.
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While a far cry from Wladdy's favourite foul, in the old veteran's bag of tricks, and one I've never noticed him use before, here is a painfully obvious battering ram effort against Tyson Fury. It reminds me of the blatant butting perpetrated by Victor Ortiz on Floyd Mayweather Junior. If you can't outbox 'em, and you can't outfight 'em, you can always let 'em know you still care with the sour scent of desperation, bottled and gift-wrapped. Wlad's desperation was warranted, as he was finally dethroned on this night, the twenty-eighth of November, 2015, losing the only true heavyweight championship of the world to young Mr. Tyson Fury, slick gypsy warrior and chinchilla-clad troll extraordinaire.
***This was pointed out to me by a few members of Youtube Nation, including swtpee12 and Fight Night***
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From 2000-2015, Wladimir Klitschko has had 35 official weigh-ins. Only twice has
he not weighed between 240 and 249 pounds. Both times, he weighed
less, not more. That is fifteen years of active boxing where a 6'6 man's weight never fluctuated above a range of nine pounds, even nearing forty years of age. In that time, perhaps many of his opponents missed this potentially crucial element of a winning strategy. Regardless, Wladimir is one of the most consistently prepared athletes of his day, in any weight class. He soon matches the always interesting but far less consistently prepared Tyson Fury. One of few contenders who could weigh more than Mr. Klitschko while still being fit, is Mr Fury. #professionalism
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Tyson Fury has outdone himself. Here, he plays the role of Batman a few days ago, to Wlad's chagrin (I think). Notice, he and Hughie Fury (The Joker) dump one or two of Klitschko's belts on the floor in their tussle. I can't remember a time when anyone's starred in a Tyson Fury presser who wasn't Tyson Fury himself. Undefeated in more ways than one, is the Gypsy Warrior.
In the English translation version of the 2011 Klitschko documentary, Wladimir and Vitali touched on the many aspects of growing up in the Soviet Union, as military brats. One segment quoted them this way:
Wladimir: "Of course, Vitali was the one who was always getting into trouble. He messed around with lots of things. One time, on a military base, we found some grenades and live ammunition. We threw them into a fire. It made a lot of noise. It was fun. "
Vitali: "One time we found an anti-tank mine. It was a huge disc. I took it home with me and the only place I could find to hide it was under my father's bed. I went to bed and then I heard my father shouting. He came to me and grabbed me by the ear. "He said, "What is that?" I said, "It's a mine." "Did you bring it in here?" I said, "Yes."
Wladimir: "Our parents were strict, so he ended up paying for that with a belt on his bottom."
In fairness to Mr. & Mrs. Klitschko, I think a lot of parents would've taken the belt out for sleeping above an anti-tank mine. You've got to find a way to discourage that!
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A few months before Lennox Lewis avenged his loss to Hasim Rahman by devastating knockout, Wladimir Klitschko took on fellow prospect, Charles Shufford, in August of 2001. Shufford was 17-1, and had played George Foreman in Ali, bringing the star of the film, Will Smith, to the ring with him that night. Shufford had actually defeated Lamon Brewster the year before and challenged Wlad for his WBO title, which was not yet regarded to be a major world title at the time. THE champion was Hasim Rahman and Klitschko was then highly regarded as a prospect more than a champion. It was a very interesting broadcast, because Klitschko impressed in scoring three picturesque knockdowns and his future friend and trainer was sitting in as HBO commentator. What he had to say showed that he was taking serious notice. It's easy to see how Emanuel Steward went from training the major heavyweight force of ca 1995-2003 to training the major heavyweight force of ca 2005-2015 (and counting).
Emanuel Steward:
Round 1:
"Wladimir, right now, is looking for a right hand. He said his favourite fighter was Max Schmeling and he fights to some degree like him, like many of the European heavyweights. Basically, probing with the left hand, always looking for an opening for the beautiful right hand of his."
Round 4:
"The right hand that Klitschko is shooting is one of the best right hands that I've ever saw. Not just today, but probably in the history of boxing."
Later in round 4:
"Klitschko's got such a good jab. It's an off-beat jab. He's moving his body rhythm at one speed and then he's punching the jab off at a different speed and it's making it very difficult for Shufford to time it."
(A mess of setting up moves for this right hand)
Post-fight:
"So much for the left hook that I said didn't exist."
(The beautiful short left hook)
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In yesterday's Fight Hub TV interview, Danny Segura seemingly interpreted no humour in the deadpan delivery of Wladimir Klitschko. Danny Segura, referencing Bryant Jennings: "Now, recently, in a media scrum, he said your chin was questionable. What are your thoughts on that?"
Klitschko, as viciously straight as his right hand:
"Oh, it's very questionable. It's actually made out of, uh, glass. And, you know, that's why I've been very careful in past fights-so it's not going to get broken. And the best way to take care of it is just to knock your opponent out."
In the exchange, Wlad seemingly threw a wet blanket on the interviewer's
question without him knowing it. No smiles or chuckles were given, that
day. But some of us viewing got a laugh out of it. Especially those who have watched around ten consecutive years and twenty consecutive opponents in a row point to Wlad's chin in the lead-up to their match with him before losing, and countless English-speaking interviewers mention it to him directly as though there was much to go over.
Considering the nine years of not even being knocked down, I am almost reminded of Robert Downey Junior being interviewed by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, recently. Now, I am not putting that all on Danny Segura, because I just find this a casual interview with a funny exchange that I laughed at, and am glad was published by Fight Hub. However, as a fan of boxing, I'm about to go into a rant, because we're on the subject of the broader problem with boxing coverage and it isn't a Fight Hub problem, or a Danny Segura problem. This interview is just a segue into a rant on the problem, which is typified by the coverage of the heavyweight champion of the world. We're talking about Klitschko coverage in America. Belittling the big man and the top division in the sport is largely an American problem. I know it's certainly not a German one. But it does hurt boxing.
CNN recently did one of the few good non-dufus American spots on Wladimir of recent memory. The fact that they can cover Klitschko well, in pieces like that, sticks out like a sore thumb. Because, in mostly American media outlets, especially on television, it's basically been Wladimir politely dismantling interviewers' negative jibes about his chin, his losses, his entertainment value, his opponent quality, his weight division's quality, and bothering to speak of little else that isn't directly tied to a negative, even when there's something positive, noteworthy and obvious to mention.
It's almost as if no one at these outlets knows what's going on in the division or about Klitschko, or even boxing in general. Yet a group like ESPN will still throw an apparently uninformed interviewer in there for a bland 3-minute spot leaving you certain they don't even know one Klitschko from another, as well as squandering any chance at getting anything interesting out of a historical fighter for the inescapably impactful American audiences. All while being completely dismissive of both him and his opponents. Why a guy like Povetkin or Jennings should be written off as uninteresting or one of the world's most dominant athletes should be treated like an anomalous footnote in progress by those who are proponents of sport, one can only wonder. I won't name names when it comes to the interviewers. But I'm sure you've seen them if you're reading this.
You virtually never hear one of them interviewing Klitschko and alluding to a good recent heavyweight match when one has happened, for instance. A match with a cracking atmosphere and great action and an exclamation mark kayo between two good contenders like Alexander Povetkin VS Carlos Takam can happen and be immediately followed by Klitschko being interviewed and the dufus interviewing him leads with a remark about how slow and uninteresting the division is before he gets to his first question. It's poor form and it's stupid marketing, and it doesn't have to be that way at all. Instead of a question that would take an interviewer any kind of familiarity like "Your recent opponent Alexander Povetkin had a terrific match with Carlos Takam. What do you think of his victory and the chances of him facing Deontay Wilder before you can get a shot at full unification?" we have been through a decade of interviews akin to:
Interviewer: "Wlad, you've been winning but remember those times you were knocked out? Because your opponent says he's going to do that to you again."
Wlad: "Yes, I have a glass chin, thank you for your interest in boxing and its subtle nuances You're very knowledgeable, discerning and thank you for that."
Interviewer: "Great answer. I'm glad you haven't forgotten being knocked out. You're a really nice guy, for a Russian. Remember those times you clinched to keep from being knocked out like last time or the time you were knocked out before that when you didn't clinch?"
Wlad: "Thank you, yes, I hope you enjoy this fight too. I am Ukrainian."
Interviewer: "Yeah, like Rocky IV, I know, Vitali. I work for ESPN, after all."
Wlad just rolls through it, sometimes aloof with positivity, sometimes playing sarcastic to blank stares and monotone, uninterested, unengaged voices. If I were Klitschko, I doubt I could do the same interviews without getting salty, and salty with no subtly whatsoever. So, I think I'm complimenting him on his choice of handling the interviews. Some have suggested this is because Wladimir isn't American, or a native English-speaker. Which is probably one factor of many. Because it's true his era isn't great. But also true that it's rarely a great heavyweight era. It's true he doesn't currently have any other big stars to interest people. It's true that like virtually every champion, he's been involved in some major stinkers.
But, if we're extending the honesty even further, although he reacts very differently, I believe Floyd Mayweather Junior gets the same thing from his coverage. Two or three stale media narratives they like to sell, like the myth of him ducking fighters throughout his career, nonsense about his celebrity excesses, then some antagonism to get him to react in an inflammatory way where he usually gives them what they want, whereas Wlad doesn't. All while usually not coaxing one interesting question about boxing on a technical level or anything else that hasn't been rehashed thousands of times.
The difference is essentially that Floyd DOES share a weight division with other stars and he DOES give in to antagonism and has a tabloid lifestyle that media eats for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But this kind of coverage is why even though boxing still boasts some of the highest-paid athletes in the world, which includes Mayweather and Klitschko, it isn't watercooler talk in America beyond the one fight where by pure happenstance the two biggest stars happen to share a weight class. Overall, it is covered in the most ditzy way possible and the Klitschko coverage is a perfect example of it. Undersold positives, oversold negatives and zero appeal to force casual fans to understand anything more substantial than "ducking" or trash talk.
Boxing isn't dead. Boxing isn't dying. But with coverage like this, of the sport's king division, it's not a wonder America isn't tuned into it nearly as much as it once was. You can put it all on a couple of Wlad's stinkers with excessive holding or you could maybe ask yourself if coverage plays a very large role, with the cloudy lens through which it is all viewed.
PS: I rarely go off on a long essay of a post, and more rarely choose to take a personal negative stance on anyone doing their jobs, which is why I am not pointing the finger at one person from my very small corner of the Internet, but I am pointing out something that I think is a huge problem to the detriment of boxing. One which I maintain is structural, and not solely dependent on any particular person with a microphone, let alone one athlete and their one division.
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In a grueling, competitive enough match in 2008, Wladimir Klitschko scored a one-punch knockout over big, crafty southpaw Tony "The Tiger" Thompson, defending his major world title and status as the premiere heavyweight of his time. Thompson was laid out in a way that didn't look like he would recover (he actually did get to his feet somehow, though it was called off).
He fell an odd way, with his right arm instinctively curling up into a pillow for the side of his head. What's even stranger than Thompson finding his way back to a position of mandatory challenger for the same title at age 40, and against the same man, is that when he fought Klitschko the second time, in 2012, and was knocked out after a roughhousing flurry forcing him to the ropes, it happened again. Same pose. I now deem this position in a knockdown as "Klitschko Arm". Tony Thompson got Klitschko Arm'd. You don't want to get Klitschko Arm.
Wladimir Klitschko works his jab against Lamon Brewster (2007), Mariusz Wach (2012), Sam Peter (2010) and Alexander Povetkin (2013). Wach was the only one that liked it.
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David Haye, featured on Setanta Sports News, with trainer Adam Booth's invention: A fake Klitschko arm. He is being trained in the lead-up to his initially planned match with Wladimir Klitschko in 2009 (it later was called off and took place in 2011). As you can see, Haye does okay with the fake one.
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Steve "Storm" Pannell was a fair and experienced heavyweight journeyman who turned pro in 1991 and last fought in 2007. He rumbled with many prospects, major world titlists and title challengers, including Frans Botha, Jameel McCline, John Ruiz and Ray Mercer. It was a hard career, getting knocked out several times and several times on short notice to good prospects. Among those prospects, in a row, three undefeated ones, were Hasim Rahman (27-0), Wladimir Klitschko (21-0) and Ed Mahone (19-0-2). All three fights ended in stoppage loss, all three in the second round, and all three matches within the same 12-month period between 1998-1999. This is not an easy way to make a living! But Mr. Pannell wasn't a go-quietly record-padder for everyone. He is, to my knowledge and the knowledge of the Fox Sports commentators at the time of the match, the first man in the amateurs or pros to put Wladimir Klitschko off of his feet. Here was the sequence:
A tip of the hat to Mr. Pannell for that one. Currently, Wladimir, for any contradictory reservations about his punch resistance, has not been knocked down since 2005. It's not a bad feather at all.
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"Relax, relax. There ain't nothin' to it. You out-boxed him, that round. This guy's slow. But, watch him, 'cause he gonna try to crack that left hook/right hand."
~Stacey McKinley, in the corner with his fighter, Ray Austin, after round one of his bout with Wladimir Klitschko. In round two, Austin was KO'd with four rapid left hooks to the head. Wladimir never used his right hand in this March of 2007 fight. KO2. But not a slow KO.
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Before his untimely and suspicious death, southpaw Cody Koch was a decent heavyweight prospect and put it on the line against then undefeated prospect Wladimir Klitschko. It was the May of 1998 when he was stopped by this single, devastating, orthodox stance right hook. While trying to get a rematch with Ed Mahone to avenge his only other loss, The Alaskan Assassin would be dead in the same year, just two months after the Klitschko KO, at only 25 years of age. It was one of the young version of Wladimir Klitschko's best highlight reel shots, and sadly Koch's last professional boxing match.
During the lead-up coverage of Sugar Ray Leonard's rematch with Tommy Hearns, in June of 1989, in an article by Bernard Fernandez, quotes like these remind us of the now lengthy history of PED's working its way into publicity for big boxing contests:
"Monday night's scheduled 12-rounder between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas
Hearns, which is likely to become the highest- grossing prizefight of
all time, is now a running gag about the possible use of anabolic
steroids by Leonard."
~Bernard Fernandez
"I take it personal. . . It's so ludicrous. It's a slap in the face to me and to
boxing. We have enough criticism of this sport."
~Sugar Ray Leonard
"We would like for (Leonard) to take a physical
before and after the fight. We've been hearing too much that Ray's been
taking steroids. I can't give you the source, but we've heard it before
we got out here."
~Emanuel Steward
"I was on the promotional tour with Ray and he wasn't all pumped up. It seemed like it happened overnight."
~Tommy Hearns
"Without a basis (for conducting such a test), it is disrespect to such a great champion as Sugar Ray Leonard,"
~Jose Sulaiman (then WBC president)
It seems so recent in boxing that PED accusation is part of "trash talking" and pre-fight negotiation gamesmanship, if not for truly genuine concern. In recent years, I've heard Floyd Mayweather Junior repeat "Take the test." to Manny Pacquiao (through media), as well as Jean Pascal, rather directly, at his ancient tormentor, Bernard Hopkins. I've also heard Alexander Povetkin and Kubrat Pulev both goading Wladimir Klitschko about it, all casting doubt on the validity of their propspective opponents, and in each mentioned case of the fight happening (all but Mayweather VS Pacquiao), what happened to be their conquerors. Of course, these are cases where tests do get taken, just not the tests the opponent has desired, and/or the way they desire them, and/or from who they desire to administer them. It's a giant, and exasperating trap for boxing fans. In a way, no one is ever above reproach on this topic, simply because there are no requirements for any form of suspicion and there is no way to eliminate all forms of suspicion with something like this, no matter what tests you take. It doesn't mean you shouldn't try, but it does mean if you want to cast doubt on someone, anyone, it's always an available option. It doesn't matter if you have proof. It doesn't matter if you have evidence. It doesn't matter if you're doing it because you believe it or because you are preparing an excuse for a future loss, or are already a sore loser.
All testing may be insufficient. All testing may be wrong. All testing may fail where a cheater succeeds or, hey, where an innocent athlete is found guilty. Hey, maybe the person doing the testing is wrong! All the testing has experts trying to figure out how to cheat them. No testing is a guarantee you've got any kind of level playing field. All of the world of true sport (i.e., not poker) seems to have some degree of PED paranoia or frustration about testing inadequacy, and boxing, being influenced by many different outlooks from its fighters, athletic commissions and sanctioning bodies has been developing quite a high degree of PED paranoia and testing dissatisfaction for some time now. It did not start with Money and Pac Man, of course. Nor will it end with Doctor Zerokiller and The Bulgarian Cobra. Not to mention, this complex and broad-ranging of a subject is far beyond the average layperson's fundamental knowledge, just as it was in 1989, if not much more so, as it stands now. I see that worsening as time goes by, not that your average fan wants to admit ignorance to something they'd love to understand, which plays such a large part in their sport. It's like having someone living in your house and you don't really know who they are or where they come from or what they're doing. It might even be easier to pretend they aren't there, if you can.
Boxing fans seem to have three main groups that make up the overwhelming majority of this issue, from my observation. There are the vehement deniers or the rabid accusers that certain fighters are on what is vaguely under the PED's umbrella, or banned substances list, less vaguely, most seemingly arguing out of false certainty, and then, thirdly, those that realistically admit they have little idea what is going on either way. The deniers and accusers seem well in the lead, ahead of group number three, to my reckoning. Maybe the admitted ignorance group is larger than I think, and their silence has fooled me. I commend their restraint, whether they're much fewer or greater in number than I've noted. In any case, it's a strange feeling to look back on 1989, with two legends going into a giant fight, bickering over PED's accusations. All these years later and it seemed to be a major enough sticking point between our pound-for-pound icons that they went to court over it and still didn't fight. Also, noting that Wladimir Klitschko's camp, much like Pacquiao's, decided to take Kubrat Pulev to court, I'm seeing in the headlines today. Ah, 1989. My, how you've grown.
