Wladimir Klitschko’s camp announced that he was forced to postpone his the fight with Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev due to a torn biceps. The announcement was met with dismay in fight circles, as Klitschko vs. Pulev promised to be the most exciting Dr. Steelhammer fight in years, even though it only means a postponement until November.
[Editor’s note: The promoters worked quickly to finalize a November 15th date for the fight.]
Yet that is only the short-term picture. Let us not forget that Klitschko is 37 years old, and training camp injuries are a routine feature of his career. For example, in 2010 he had to pull out of a fight with Dereck Chisora due to a torn abdominal muscle. Although Wlad is not nearly as injury-prone as big brother Vitali, now the mayor of Kiev, was, he seems more injury prone than many other heavyweight boxers, and that counts for something when a man gets to be Wlad’s age.
Klitschko the Elder was forced into early retirement by his body, unable to endure the wear and tear placed on it by a world class professional sporting career. He threw out his shoulder at least twice in the ring — against Chris Byrd and Dereck Chisora — and suffered repeated knee injuries, one of them leading to his 2005-07 hiatus. Big Wlad has experienced nothing like that in his career, but he has never held a place among the sport’s most rugged and durable fighters either.
This injury may just cast a spotlight on how Dr. Steelhammer is going to exit the scene. His older brother found himself postponing and then dropping out of a title defense against Bernard Stiverne before “stepping back” from boxing in 2013, and then finally retiring in 2014 to pursue his political career full-time. Perhaps this muscle tear will prove a lingering problem, forcing the postponement of the Pulev fight into a cancellation, but more probably it points to the simple fact that Father Time is catching up with Wladimir Klitschko.
If Klitschko the Younger were to depart the scene tomorrow, who would step into his shoes? As World Heavyweight Champion, nobody in the short term, but there would be a scramble for the vacant belts he would leave behind. Vitali’s old WBC strap has been steered into an all-North American conference now, with Stiverne, Deontay Wilder and Bryant Jennings in the mix. The ranking contenders for Wlad’s WBA title is Ruslan Chagaev, and as “fake/regular” titlist he would automatically inherit the “real/diluted” crown. Dereck Chisora vs. Tyson Fury would likely become a tussle for the WBO belt, as both are highly ranked with that organization.
Kubrat Pulev is the IBF’s mandatory, and his fight for a vacant title would be wide open were the Klitschko fight to fall through. In the “who cares” category, he could find himself facing Vyacheslav Glazkov, Lucas Browne or Carlos Takam. In the “ugh” category there are the past their best, blown up cruiserweights Steve Cunningham and Tomasz Adamek. The only interesting fight that might happen for the IBF crown is if Bryant Jennings were interested, as he is their #8 and might be willing to go for a title against Pulev now than wait for his might-happen turn against Wilder later.
More than likely Klitschko vs. Pulev will go ahead in November. Even so, the injury raises interesting questions about how the post-Klitschko heavyweight world will finally come about, and more importantly, how that world is now becoming clearer.
