SONAHR: HAMBURG, Germany – November 16, 2014 – In the heavyweight division, Wladimir Klitschko reigns supreme, as he has for the past several years. For a while, he shared the pinnacle of the division with his older brother, Vitali. Wladimir held the WBA, WBO and IBF versions of the championship, while Vitali claimed the WBC title. Since Vitali relinquished his crown to go into politics in his native Ukraine, Wladimir has stood alone at the top of a rather humble heap. True, Bermane Stiverne scooped up the vacant WBC title earlier this year, but Wladimir is still generally recognized as the true heavyweight champion of the world.
He turned back yet another challenger ? Kubrat Pulev of Bulgaria ? on Saturday. With an undefeated record of 20-0 (11 KOs) going into the fight, Pulev is a legitimate Top 10 contender. And he matches up well size-wise against Klitschko, standing only a couple of inches shorter but weighing about the same, and with a similar wingspan. But in terms of experience, Pulev is a novice next to Klitschko, who accumulated a 62 -3 (53) mark since winning the super-heavyweight gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. Klitschko?s last loss came a decade ago, and at that time he was thought to be washed-up. Through dogged perseverance and the tutelage of the late trainer Emmanuel Steward, he learned to accentuate his strengths and minimize his weaknesses, particularly his shaky chin and suspect stamina.
Shaky and suspect no more, Klitschko?s added another triumph to his ledger as he completely dominated Pulev en route to a fifth-round knockout. The Bulgarian tried to take the fight to Klitschko, but he didn?t have the punch, the skills, or the chin necessary to make that strategy work. His aggression earned him four trips to the canvas ? twice in the first stanza, and once each in the third and the fateful fifth. Usually, Klitschko dispatches his opponents with the most potent right-hand power punch in the division. Against Pulev, however, he unveiled a left hook as lethal as that of Joe Frazier.
At age 38, Wladimir is still in his prime. He defeats all comers with consummate ease, whether they are top contenders like Alexander Povetkin or no-hopers like Alex Leapai, who was Klitschko?s last opponent before Pulev. He can win ugly, jabbing and grabbing like a latter-day Ernie Terrell. Or he can produce spectacular knockouts, as he did on Saturday. He?s beaten sluggers like Samuel Peter, and slicksters like Chris Byrd. Like it or not ? and a lot of people still don?t ? Wladimir Klitschko is by far the best heavyweight on the planet.
The only goal left for him now is to win the WBC title, which would then put all four major belts in his trophy case. But a Klitschko-Bermane Stiverne match may not be easy to make. Stiverne is in the clutches of rascally promoter Don King, who has been making mischief in the heavyweight division for more than 40 years. Only recently, though, has King possessed a piece of the big boys? pie.
King knows Stiverne is not likely to beat Klitschko. He will try to maneuver his fighter through the minefield of mandatory-defense politics until Klitschko finally retires. Then the division will be wide-open for the kind of trickery and chicanery that marked King?s machinations during Mike Tyson?s heyday in the 1980s.
The more things change in boxing ? the more they stay the same.
