The Debate: Wladimir Klitschko

This article contains the opinions of our loyal saddoboxing.com readers.

Emanuel Steward, Detroit’s legendary trainer of champions assumed control over the training responsibilities of both Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko at similarly tender phases of their development. Ironically, it was Steward’s orchestration of Lewis’s first defeat, simplistic but ruthlessly executed by Oliver McCall that compelled Lewis to enlist Steward in reconstructing his career. Lewis’s parting gift to boxing was his sixth round demolition of Wladimir’s elder brother Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir’s recruitment of Steward is an indirect example of the career symmetry to which I have alluded. The Klitschko’s closeness perhaps indicates a cultural predisposition that has greatly influenced their professional lives.

Victory for one brother appears equally shared by the other and the agony of defeat is as great for both regardless of upon whom it is inflicted. Because of this, their career paths have overlapped on several occasions as their respective failures have forced the other to seek out retribution on the others behalf. Recently, Wladimir has become an overwhelmingly consistent perpetrator of these failures and further scrutiny raises the question of whether he should remain in the hurt business at all. Seeking answers, we loose this debate to our loyal saddoboxing.com readers and forum goers. Enjoy!

Should Wladimir Klitschko remain in boxing and if so, how successful can he become?

Clydey_2_Times:

Given Wladimir’s last outing against DaVarryl Williamson, in which he apparently struggled, I think he needs to consider his future.

Wladimir’s current plight seems to affect promising fighters all too frequently. Fernando Vargas, for example, was making great strides until he came a cropper against Trinidad, at which time his chin and punch resistance appeared to disintegrate. I’m not sure what exactly causes this to happen. Whether it’s linked to the fighters’ confidence or the fact that other fighters, having witnessed their demise, are no longer intimidated and, consequently, feel they can throw caution to the wind.

Not so long ago, Klitschko was viewed as a real life Ivan Drago. He doesn’t strike that fear into his opponents these days. This may be a factor in his decline.

OttoEvans:

I don’t think the Williamson fight can used as an example. Williamson ran the whole fight which he would have eventually have stopped doing going into the later rounds.

Also, everyone has to admit something looked really wrong in the Brewster fight. Wladimir was dominating the fight and he suddenly got tired, (and Brewster was Don King’s guy), but who knows?

Saddo:

It’s funny that just over a year ago all the experts hailed Wladimir as the best of the two brothers. What a difference a chin makes.

A great puncher with a suspect chin makes for some exciting fights in the future so for me he should fight on, the same way Lewis carried on after his loss to McCall.

Clydey_2_Times:

I reckon, from the fans perspective, he should fight on. From his perspective, though, he needs to consider his future. I can’t see him being the dominant heavyweight that he should have been.

Meunouk:

Wladimir is an intelligent man who can speak several languages, he does not need to box. However, he is a good boxer. He has good skills and a great offense with good power. He is definitely finding it tough to fight after his loss to Sanders, then his loss to Brewster, that’s understandable.

I don’t see why he should retire, not yet. I would say fight Grade C – Opponents (you would think Brewster was in this grade, but not in today’s sad state of affairs) and work your way up.

The calls for him to retire attwenty-eight are, for me, rushed.

It’s ironic that they call for him to retire at twenty-eight for health reasons because he got a bit bashed, yet these are the same guys who called for Lennox Lewis, at thirty-nine, to return to the ring to face another tough fight with his older brother that wouldn’t do much for his legacy in the long run.

That’s my two cents.

JimC:

When the Klitschko brothers were still relatively on the outskirts of the heavyweight division, my assumption based on their fighting styles was that Wladimir would be the heir apparent to Lennox Lewis. It was not just his pedigree as a former Olympic champion, he had the stereotypical frame and organized stylistic approach and better still, his potential appeared to be far from being fulfilled.

Vitali Klitschko did not appear to have the balance and therefore the power or the effective boxing skill to be as damaging a force as his younger brother. What he does have is an iron will and a chin to match that has seen him forge through to a championship.

If you were to combine the attributes of both brothers you would create a truly formidable fighter; one that would dominate the heavyweight division with grace and power for many years to come. As solid as Vitali appears, I do not feel that it will take a monumental effort to beat him; being at war with a thoroughly overweight Corrie Sanders in winning the title is a worrying sign when you consider that he will have to beat much more capable fighters on the way to affirming himself as the best heavyweight in the world.

Wladimir Klitschko appears to be experiencing a steep decline, is it too early to declare that he is a shot fighter? Perhaps. We must consider the hard evidence though, and that suggests that there is maybe he is experiencing a physical deficiency, which is affecting his performance. Regardless, the passive way in which he seems to accept being routinely obliterated in boxing matches makes me wonder whether his heart and mind are in the right place in order to allow him to continue as a top-level heavyweight fighter, and no amount of tutelage from Emanuel Steward will be able to save him.

Lyle

Like Steward said Williamson ran the whole fight and when he did confront Wlad he came in with his head down which eventually caused the cut. Bad chin or not, apparently people are still afraid of Wlad, you would think someone would use Corrie Sanders’ technique again.

Please check back to the site for more debates and get your opinion heard.

Jim Cawkwell can be reached at jam2lis@sprint.ca