The 10th anniversary of what might be viewed as just another in a long series of consecutive wins for Wladimir Klitschko is on Thursday.
But his unanimous decision victory over Samuel Peter on Sept. 24, 2005, in Atlantic City, N.J., might be the one win that turned Klitschko?s career around.
Klitschko is now 66-3, holds the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight belts, has won 24 bouts in succession and is about as much of a sure thing as there is in the sport.
But when he faced Peter in a title eliminator at Boardwalk Hall, Klitschko was an enigmatic heavyweight with a questionable, at best, chin.
Peter was, at the time, one of the hardest hitters in the sport and Klitschko?s late trainer, the great Emanuel Steward, was plenty worried.
?If you watch the HBO broadcast, you could see how worried Emanuel was,? said Klitschko, who has few worries these days heading into an Oct. 24 title defense against Tyson Fury in Germany. ?That was definitely a very challenging match. Samuel Peter was on his way up and many people thought I was on my way down.?
They worried with good reason. At the time, Klitschko?s magnificent talent was plenty obvious. He had a jab that was the envy of the sport, powerful, fast and accurate. He was, as he is now, an incredible athlete who combined size, power and quickness like few heavyweights have ever done.
But in the prior 30 months, he?d been knocked out twice, in the second round by Corrie Sanders in 2002 and in the fifth by Lamon Brewster. He looked shaky in several of his other bouts.
?I didn?t like my poise,? Klitschko said, recalling his game at the time. ?There was a lot of questions, a lot of insecurities. There were a lot of things that were keeping me from being as efficient as I could be.?
One of the most underrated things about Klitschko is his competitiveness. And though by Sept. 24, 2005, he?d won the title, gained world-wide notoriety and had made an extraordinary amount of money, he was sick of losing.
He was sick of hearing questions about his heart, his chin, his intestinal fortitude.
He began to approach his fights differently than he ever had previously.
?For probably the last 10 years, I was setting a goal and thinking that each fight was going to be my last fight,? he said. ?Don?t get me wrong: I wasn?t in any way expecting to quit. But I would rather die than finish second. That was a big part of it.?
And so though he was knocked down three times in the fight with Peter, he pulled himself off the deck each time. He won the other nine rounds handily and sent a message to those who expected him to wilt whenever the action got hot.
View gallery .
Wladimir Klitschko holds his belts and gestures after defeating Bryant Jennings in April. (AP) This, it would soon become obvious, was a man who was all in. He would do whatever was necessary to win.
He?s won 24 in a row since the loss to Brewster, including 16 by knockout. In most of his fights, he?s won every round. Few men have even been able to push him.
He?s not fighting in one of the great eras for heavyweights, but he?s beaten his share of quality opponents and he?s handled those he?s been expected to handle.
But he is quick to point out that none of it just happens.
?Those fights look one-sided, but remember, they?re one-sided for a reason,? Klitschko said. ?I have the experience and I?m putting the hard work in. I did everything I could possibly do because I hate to lose so much. I couldn?t tolerate it any more.?
Fury is 24-0 with 18 knockouts, and at 6-foot-9, he’s one of the few boxers with a height advantage on the 6-foot-6 champion. Fury has done plenty of talking prior to the fight, but Klitschko takes it all in stride.
He?s always a gentleman, but that doesn?t mean he doesn?t hear the barbs, or that he?s not bothered by them.
He heard all those who predicted his demise after the loss to Brewster. He has fueled himself to get the last laugh on the critics who never thought he?d survive Peter, let alone reel off 24 consecutive victories.
?I?m like an elephant and I don?t forget,? he said. ?And I don?t forget what it felt like to lose, either. It has motivated me for all these years, not to feel that way again.?
He defeated DaVarryl Williamson and Eliseo Castillo in his first two bouts after his loss to Brewster, but it wasn?t until the win over Peter that he stamped himself as the force in the heavyweight division.
?Emanuel talked to me a lot about that fight,? Klitschko said of his bout with Peter. ?He knew it would be a challenge to me, but he was so excited about it.?
Steward often appeared as if he were prescient, and he always predicted great things for Klitschko.
And when he stood up to the onslaught from the powerful Peter, Steward knew his man was special.
It just took the world a bit longer to fully catch on.
