SONAHR: Halifax, Nova Scotia – March 1, 2015 – Don?t look now, but the long-moribund heavyweight division is showing signs of resurrection. Only two months into the new year, the winds of change ? or, at least, excitement ? are breezing through the ranks of the big boys.
In January, undefeated knockout artist Deontay Wilder outpointed Bermane Stiverne to win the latter?s WBC championship. Although Wilder is on the shelf for a while as he heals from a hand injury suffered in the Stiverne fight, he adds a spicy element to a heavyweight stew that had gone flat during the course of the lengthy period of domination by Wladimir Klitschko and his retired brother Vitali.
And on Saturday, another player maintained his place on the stage. Britain?s Tyson Fury (and was there ever a more colorful name for a fighter?) scored an emphatic stoppage of Romanian contender Christian Hammer, when Hammer?s corner did not allow him to answer the bell for the eighth round.
True, Hammer (another colorful fistic name) is hardly a world-beater. His biggest victory is a decision over a washed-up Kevin Johnson, who had once gone the distance in a WBC title bout with then-champion Vitali Klitschko. Johnson had also recently lost to Fury, though he went the distance in hat contest, too.
Still, Hammer was no pushover, and he might have sprung an upset if Fury had gotten careless in his training, or in the course of the bout. Fury was all business, though, as he pounded his opponent into submission.
After the fight was over, the trash-talking Fury called out Wladimir Klitschko. Although at 6?9? Fury is one of the few contenders bigger than the 6?7? Klitschko, he has yet to display the skill or power necessary to be competitive against the Ukrainian, who remains at the top of his game even at the advanced age of 38. Still, the undefeated Fury is about as ready as he?ll ever be for Klitschko.
Klitschko is scheduled to defend his multiple titles against Bryant Jennings who is, like Wilder, an undefeated American. With a win over fellow-contender Mike Perez under his belt, Jennings is a deserving challenger. But he doesn?t have to tools necessary to defeat Wladimir, who routinely takes fighters like Jennings apart like a mechanic disassembling a used car.
So the next marquee opponent for Wladimir will be either Fury or Wilder. Wilder offers more incentive. If Klitschko defeats the American, then he?ll be able to retire with all four major sanctioning organizations? belts, as well as The Ring magazine?s recognition as the lineal champion.
All Fury offers is the opportunity for Klitschko to shut the mouth of an obnoxious nuisance, as he did that of David Haye four years ago. Still, that might be enough to induce Wladimir to fight Fury during the summer, and then Wilder at the end of the year ? provided Klitschko defeats Fury, which is likely, but not a foregone, conclusion.
Whatever happens as 2015 unfolds, the heavyweights are no longer the yawning-stock of boxing. And that can only be good for the game.
