The Heavyweight Scene May Be Terrible, But It’s Not Wladimir’s & Vitali’s Fault:
It is wholly understandable why fans from the USA neglect the Klitschko brothers. Imagine growing up watching Ali, Holmes, Tyson, Holyfield, and even Lennox Lewis and juxtapose that against the reigns of the brothers Klitschko. Many of us grew up in an era where heavyweight title fights were fought at a fever pitch. However dominant the champion was, you could count on an actual fight breaking out from time to time.
We like to see our heavyweight champions actually fight—not nullify. Boxing became popular in the first place due to the dynamic of two men exchanging blows. You don’t get that with the Klitschkos. This is a money business. It’s not enough for a heavyweight champion to employ the lowest-risk strategy. It has to be compelling. I’m sure some heavyweight champions of the past could have skated by easier if they just paid no mind to entertainment value, as the Klitschkos do. Then again, when arenas in Europe get packed every time to watch these guys, it isn’t exactly negative reinforcement. In their heads, they think they’re doing everything right.
The combined reigns of the Klitschko brothers have been among the less imagistic in the history of boxing. The white McFit canvas only adds an extra air of sterility to their “fights.” The crowd’s level of enthusiasm and ebullience seems more suited for an auto auction than a heavyweight championship prizefight. Guys here in the states are actually wanting to go to Bed Bath and Beyond with their old ladies in the afternoon to get out of watching another Klitschko fight on their computer monitors.
But on paper, both brothers are putting together nice resumes. Looking back, people will be struck with the long series of dominant wins over the best big men in the world and perhaps their high knockout percentages. They will be dazzled by the fact that no one could lay a glove on these guys for the better part of a decade. Then, they’ll notice that some historians are probably not giving them much respect.
The fact is that, especially in the states, the Klitschko brothers are being judged by their ability to entertain. At some point, we will all have to judge them on their actual accomplishments. Their boredom factor has prevented us from taking in the entire scope of their greatness. Here are some facts that we should maybe focus on more before it’s too late:
They never ducked anybody
Most heavyweight champions had a few names of other fighters they hadn’t fought. You really can’t do that with the Klitschkos. They haven’t ducked anybody. Any heavyweight worth fighting has been fought. They might not always take on the toughest available opponent, but you can’t really identify the names of any fighters that they’ve specifically ducked.
Both brothers tried to make dates with WBA champ David Haye (the only compelling contender remaining) last year, only to have Haye pull out of both bouts. Now it looks like Vitali will get a crack at the Englishman in June or July. Either way, you can’t blame the brothers for that fight not coming off yet. In addition, you can’t call them out for ducking anybody even if you were trying to. In today’s age, that’s pretty rare. For the most part, both brothers stand in direct contrast to most Eastern European titleholders, who extend their reign by fighting mostly inferior European talent or third-tier retread Americans. You simply cannot say that about the Klitschkos.
For better or worse, every sports figure has their greatness measured by how dominant they were against their peers. Maybe we go so far as to quietly question the quality of the reigns of certain champions. But when a fighter cleans out a division, what can you really say? Just imagine for argument’s sake if Wladimir had a draining and exciting 3-fight series with one of the contenders he whitewashed. Would that indicate that Wladimir is better? Would his reign be looked upon with more admiration?
They stay true to what they do best
While not pleasing to western fans, dominance is dominance. Fighters who were good enough to win international amateur tournaments and professional world titles have gotten absolutely nowhere with the Klitschko brothers. What other heavyweight champions can you point to who went so long without even having a hiccup?
Since when did we criticize fighters for using their natural gifts? Both Klitschkos are blessed with great size and the requisite skill and athleticism to make it work for them. We should reasonably expect them to forego their advantages and get hit more often for our entertainment?
When judging greatness in boxing, there never seemed to be such a close bond between entertainment and dominance—until now. Somehow, people use the Klitschko’s dominance against them. Their fights are so boring and forgettable that it gives people false license to just blow it all off completely. Their performances seem so effortless that we think they don’t deserve credit for something so easy. In other words, they would get more credit and attention if they actually struggled in their fights. If they got busted up, staggered, or rose from knockdowns and managed to win—they would get more respect somehow. Huh?
To their credit, they have good reason to employ these strategies, however boring it might be. Wladimir, in particular, does not want to engage. The last thing he wants to do is fight in the traditional sense of the term. And for good reason. The big guy seems lost in exchanges. As far as anyone can see, Wlad is 1-3 in actual fights. When he beat Sam Peter nearly 6 years ago, that was only time he won anything that resembled a rumble. His stamina, chin, and poise unravel when in an actual fight. So, what would you have him do?
Greatness is greatness. It is not necessary that we like it for it to be greatness. Sure, the Klitschkos tendency to not engage and their utter vulnerability in a shootout suggests a lack of versatility. So we could say their styles are not very dynamic. But can we say they’re not dominant or effective? Absolutely not.
If you need to cast blame, cast it on every heavyweight not named Klitschko
Look at the 1980’s. Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson were dominant, but at least the challengers were hungry, or somewhat dangerous. Holmes had to climb off the mat against inferior talents like Renaldo Snipes and even a dead-prime Tyson got buckled by a Tony Tucker uppercut. Today’s heavyweights can’t even manage that much. Shame on them. Some of us might remember a time when challengers for heavyweight titles actually gave a crap. Watching the Klitschkos recent challengers, one isn’t struck with the impression that they’re fighting for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Sure, the Klitschko’s skills have a lot to do with it, but the lack of hunger exhibited by this recent crop of heavyweight challengers is stunning. We are all so sick of watching one heavyweight challenger after the next just dutifully going along with the program, staying at the end of the Klitschko reach devoid of any fury whatsoever. Guys are showing up out of shape, phoning it in, and generally exhibiting the same level of urgency in the ring that my grandmother shows when reaching for her medicine. This is especially alarming when considering Wladimir is widely considered a fighter who is always one punch away from ruin. Still, no one seems to be gunning for his chin. Ugh.
I realize Rocky Balboa is a fictional character, but I’m not asking for Rocky. Some Frank Bruno would even suffice. How about a little Carl “The Truth?” Something. Anything. I don’t care if he gets knocked out cold, show me a heavyweight who grits his teeth, gets in there, and at least doggedly tries to make a decent go of it. Whatever happened to strategy and the ability to impose it? Why does no current heavyweight seem to have the skill, discipline, guidance, smarts, and moxie to step with these guys and get inside somehow? It’s really baffling.
Getting inside on these guys is certainly more difficult than it appears. Obviously, not every challenger decided that they simply didn’t want to try to get inside. The Klitschkos are really good at keeping their man at long distance. But for not a single challenger in recent memory to so much as manage getting in a good swat or two is nothing short of disgraceful. Somehow, this deficit in the skills, heart, and desire of today’s contenders has resonated with some fans as fodder to simply disregard the worth of their title reigns.
So the next time you cite the Klitschkos as the sole reason why the heavyweight division is in the toilet, take a look at the other 1000+ heavyweights. Where is their culpability in this? The Klitschko brothers are two men. Yet, they seem to shoulder all the blame. Why do the other 1000 fighters get a pass? If anything, you could make a pretty darned good case that it is entirely their fault. We know what the Klitschkos bring to the table and have known for years. They’re the constant and unchanging variable in this equation. It seems to be the job of the other 1000 heavyweights to do something about it. And for years, they have not even come close.
In Closing…
I’m not particularly enjoying this endless series of clinical heavyweight championship fights that are devoid of anything resembling “fighting.” Maybe in Germany, they enjoy watching a fighter one-sidedly nullify his opponent, but we like watching our champions outfight or outbox their challengers in some type of discernible and appealing way. At the same time, it doesn’t have to be good for it to be great. Combined, the Klitschko brothers are approaching 20 fights where no one has managed any success against them whatsoever. There’s a certain greatness to that however you might want to cut it. They’re not cheating. They’re operating within the rules and no one is tying the hands of their opponents behind their backs.
We easily admit the greatness of other things we might not necessarily like, don’t we? In boxing, it’s a bit different. We like what we like. We take ownership of a sport we invested so much time and thought into and become protective over it. We might feel that the Klitschkos dominance is ultimately bad for the sport. What then happens is we become somewhat blinded and proceed to equate entertainment value to greatness. The Klitschkos might not conform to our ideals for heavyweight kingpins. But what should we do with these two big boys at the end of the day? We can either deny them greatness or begin placing a higher premium on things like overall dominance, instead of less credible criteria like appeal and excitement.
Maybe we’re just not used to all this. We’re accustomed to watching heavyweight champs fighting on glossy evening telecasts on cable or PPV, not on problem-ridden computer feeds in the middle of the afternoon. We’re not used to our heavyweight champs not having any controversy surrounding them. Whether it be an outrageous quote, outside-of-the-ring misbehavior, or even an in-ring controversy, the Klitschkos steer clear of any funny business. Maybe we just need some drama and they are not giving us any.
