LAWYER LAYS OUT CASE AGAINST WLAD & CO!
Pittsburgh, PA- For those who have concluded that boxing�s dead, a breakthrough has developed in the search for the real killer, or rather, killers. The prosecution, you should know, could be complex, since the offenders number in the millions � 82 million to be exact, the population of Germany. To start, we must target the 61,000 plus conspirators who enabled another Klitschko mismatch last Saturday in Gelsenkinchen. Not only does this nation produce locals who defend there against ridiculous mandatories, such as Arthur Abraham vs. Lajuan Simon and Felix Sturm against Koji Sato, it �harbors� those who terrorize the sport, including the notorious Nickolay Valuev.
OPEN AND SHUT CASE VS. THE GERMANS
Obviously (I hope), you will see the opinions above as tongue-in-cheek. Germany�s not killing the sport, and for that matter, boxing�s alive and well, with terrific crowds also showing up this month in Montreal and New York. Yet, consider these indisputable facts:
*Sanctioning organizations seriously impair the sport by giving us fraudulent �championship� bouts between a multitude of titlists and their undeserving mandatory challengers. *The sport benefits most in terms of interest and enjoyment from exciting combatants more than by great ones.
With those two important concepts in mind, consider this �evidence� against Germany: Wladimir Klitschko has defended his title there against several undeserving and unwatchable opponents, including Ray Austin, Tony Thompson and the remains of Hasim Rahman.
*Valuev has used the country as his home base for the last six years, competing 16 times there, including �world championship� contests.
*In addition to Soto, Sturm�s �championship� defenses have included Jamie Pittman, Noe Alcoba and Maselino Mascoe; Arthur�s have included Elvin Ayala and Wayne Elcock. These are championship bouts? Tony Zale, where have you gone?
�RELAX, FRANCIS�
Speaking of tongue-in-cheek, some posters here blasted us for �boycotting� Klitschko�s fight Saturday. Like a comedian frustrated by having to explain his joke, I give you an inside look at RingTalk.com: Each week, the boxing writers cover the issues, fights and fighters we find most provocative and compelling, due to the importance of reader interest. This week, Kevin Perry covered west coaster Victor Ortiz and Jarrad Woods featured the super fight between Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao, while I wrote about Paul Spadafora�s comeback.
PEDRO �CREATED� SOME HEAT WITH JAB AT WLAD
The site�s creator, Pedro Fernandez, makes sure everything is covered and was left to address Wlad, and he chose to focus on Klitschko�s boring style and overly cautious approach. Unorthodox for sure, but let�s ask ourselves: Is Klitschko boring in the ring? Undoubtedly. Is he too cautious for boxing fans� liking? Yes again. And frankly, what to write? �Klitschko once again methodically (and somewhat tediously) dominated a good but overmatched challenger in a glorified sparring session.� That Ruslan Chagaev was his best opponent in five years matters not; he walked into that ring Saturday with no chance, and we waited about seven long rounds too many for the inevitable result.
FREE WLAD NOW! FREE WLAD NOW!
So what if Pedro had some fun with the champ in order to prove his point? We�re talking about what happens inside the ropes in a sport here, folks. As John Cusack said to Jeremy Piven on screen 20 years ago, �YOU MUST CHILL! � Pedro�s style is just more in-your-face than most, which makes him more interesting than most. (Ever try to listen to a Kieran Mulvaney podcast on ESPN?) Personally, I find Klitschko to be a lot of things: a very good heavyweight, one who could compete in any era, who�s mastered how to use his size; a class act and a gentleman; intelligent; a likely ambassador for the sport; and a terrible bore in the ring. By the way, I also think that the Cleveland Browns and their fans suck. And I�m dead serious about that.
