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Whenever there are relatives in the same sport, they are constantly compared to one another. In racing there was Dale Earnheart Sr and Jr, while in the sport of tennis, Serena and Venus Williams come to mind. In boxing over the last twenty odd years in there has been the Mayweather brothers, Floyd Sr, Roger and Jeff Mayweather, and the Ruelas brothers, Rafael and Gabe. Pressure has already been put on the young Julio Cesar Chavez Jr because his father may very well have been the greatest Mexican fighter of all time.
Now the focus goes to the Klitschko brothers. The two six foot five plus Ukrainians together have produced enough knockouts to demonstrate the domino effect. It doesn’t matter if you are cousins, father and son, sisters or brothers if you share the same last name; you are linked. One is always in the shadow of the other. Although sometimes things take a twist.
Both Vitali and Wlad strongly came out of the starting gate when they started their pro careers. One by one, whoever was put in front of them fell. They both have knockout ratios that are beyond impressive. Younger brother Wlad seemed to catch the public interest first, even though Vitali was winning just as impressively. Wlad was also the first to have a loss on his record, a stoppage loss to journeyman Ross Purity.
Despite the loss, all of the focus didn’t turn to Vitali, but rather remained with Wladimir. Possibly the interest stayed with Wlad because he was durable enough to continue his winning ways. Undaunted, Vitali did not lose until he faced the world ranked (and current IBF king ) Chris Byrd. It was a fight in which Vitali had dominated up until the point he dislocated a shoulder, which eventually caused his corner to stop the contest. Byrd got an early Christmas present and Vitali was labeled a quitter.
Instead of being commended for his efforts and fighting as long as he did with an injury, Vitali received nothing but negative press from the Bryd fight. It didn’t help matters when Wlad beat Byrd in the American’s very next fight and added the WBO title to his waist.
All of a sudden, Wladimir is considered the next “Great White Hope” and Vitali meanwhile got back to his winning ways. He also goes on being known as the “other” Klitschko, the one who isn’t as good. At this point, the only thing that the two brothers are considered to share besides their last name is a mechanical fighting style.
Now the twist….Wlad heads off to South Africa with a full head of steam and every win more impressive than the last. He is scheduled to take on the hard hitting but lightly regarded Corrie Sanders, who seemed like the perfect opponent to meet along the way to getting a title shot with Lennox Lewis. With the stage set and crowd packed, Wlad crumbles like a house of cards in a wind storm. The thirty seven year old southpaw Sanders gave it all he had and came out of the corner with reckless abandon.
Apparently, he figured that if he was going to be “the” opponent, then he was going to be one you won’t soon forget. He dropped Wlad three hard times and the fight was over almost as soon as it began. Big brother Vitali was wiorking Wlad’s corner for the bout and came into the ring afterward vowing to avenge his younger sibling’s loss and just like that all eyes are now on Vitali.
True to his word, not only was younger brother Wlad’s loss avenged in spectacular style but Vitali also gave Lennox Lewis the fight of his life. To this day, many give Vitali credit for causing the champion to retire rather than face the big man from the Ukraine again. Lewis escaped with his title intact by producing a huge, gaping laceration above Klitschko’s eye. Vitali, with blood streaming down his face, protested the stoppage but the damage was too severe and of the type that can end careers.
This time, unlike the Byrd fight, Vitali was commended for his efforts. Soon after Lewis’ retirement, Vitali claimed both the WBC and The Ring Magazine title honors. Shortly afterward, Wlad was once again stopped. This time it was in the fourth round against Lamon Brewster after Wlad ran out of gas in a fight he was winning. Meanwhile, Vitali put on a masterful defense of his title by completely dominating England’s Danny Williams, the former British Champion fresh off a knockout of Mike Tyson.
In this bout Vitali seemed less mechanical. He had head movement, took easy pot shots at the Englishman and held his hands low to increase the speed of his punches. He had arrived as the legitimate champion. He was big, strong had a great chin and could box! Add that to his well mannered interviews, genial personality and the fact that he had earned a doctorate. This guy couldn’t miss in the public eye.
Now another twist…Vitali became plagued with injuries and was forced to pull out of a title defense. Next, due to the turmoil in his homeland, he was forced to postpone another. Then, just as things seemed ready to go, he hurt his knee while training and had to yet again postpone a defense as this time he will require surgery.
Rather than to keep the title tied up just for the sake of being able to claim that he was the champ, or worse yet have the belt stripped off of him, Vitali shows true class by deciding to to retire and give someone else a shot at the title. In a press statement, he is quoted as saying “Rather than hold the belt up, I will give my predecessor the chance to hold it. If things should change I will come back and claim my belt again”. Words and actions of a guy who earned the right to be called Champ.
As for Wladimir, he still remains in the rankings. As after his previous two losses, he has bounced back to his winning ways since the Brewster fight. He has also shown signs of improving and growing as a fighter. In his recent bout against the hard hitting heavyweight prospect, Samuel Peter, Wlad hit the canvas three times. Instead of folding as he had done in the past, he managed to pull himself together and win the fight , losing only the two rounds in which he was knocked down in. He used his experience to deal with adversity in the ring instead of just folding.
All of a sudden the plan has changed if you want to beat Wlad. Hurting him doesn’t mean that you will take him out and his future is looking up again. Soon, he may be in line for a title shot. He already holds a win over Byrd and is far superior to Ruiz. It has been shown that the only way to beat him so far is to knock him out and after the Peter fight it looks as though that may not be as easy to do as it once was.
Being down does not mean that he is out.
The next year should give us the answer to the question of whether or not Wladimir Klitschko can carry on his brother’s legacy. If Wlad can continue to improve and add the ability to deal with adversity to go along with his awesome power and offense, he just may be the next world champion called Klitschko. And he is young enough to have a lengthy reign. Don’t count him out as the odds are looking good for him right now. If his chin holds, all the other tools are there and the only thing that may be changing in the heavyweight ratings may be the first name of the recognized champion.
