ROY Jones Jr. once said that every boxer, regardless of weight division, dreams of becoming the heavyweight champion of the world. He might be right and so the auditions for dilettantes continue almost every month.
But today a significant heavyweight match-up takes place between reigning IBF/IBO king Wladimir Klitschko and WBO champ Sultan Ibragimov. Too bad, most of us won?t be seeing this compelling David vs. Goliath on the tube.
Here?s how they stack-up.
WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO, 49-3-(44 KOs)
STRENGTHS. Power. ?Steelhammer? couldn?t have been a more appropriate ring moniker. With only five of his 49 opponents surviving to hear the final bell, Klitschko possesses crippling power that can end the fight anytime.
Size. At 6-foot-6 ?? and an 81-inch reach, Wladimir towers over most heavyweights. His jab is one of the best in the business and it?s longer than there?ve been stars in the heavens. (Sorry Dan Fogelberg, just couldn?t resist)
WEAKNESSES. Chin. The blemishes on his record were all stoppage losses and he suffered some knockdowns in some of his wins. Corrie Sanders? fight proved that if you punched hard enough and you don?t get intimated by his size, Wladimir isn?t that hard to beat.
BEST PERFORMANCES. Chris Byrd KO7. Performed much better in the rematch by scoring violent knockdowns in the fifth and seventh rounds.
Calvin Brock TKO7. Proved too big and too strong for the erstwhile undefeated ?Boxing Banker.?
SULTAN IBRAGIMOV, 22-0, (17 KOs)
STRENGTHS. Confidence. He?s a jack of all trades and doesn?t really excel at any one particular trait. He can be aggressive when the situation calls for it, but can also be evasive and effective at the same time. But it?s his confidence that makes him a force to reckon with.
Hand speed. The Sultan will definitely be the faster man in the ring and he has to capitalize on this in order to take away Wladimir?s advantages in size and strength.
WEAKNESSES. Quality of opposition. Undefeated he may be, but the best names on his resume are Shannon Briggs and Lance Whitaker, whose best days are behind them.
BEST PERFORMANCES. TKO7 Lance Whitaker. In that fight, he showed he knew he could dance with the big guys and proved that size ain?t worth crap if you don?t have the skills to complement it. The 6-foot-8 Whitaker never fought after that.
WORST PERFORMANCE. W12 Evander Holyfield. He looked abyssmal and ordinary in out-pointing the ancient Evander Holyfield in his last fight.
INTANGIBLES. A few years ago, shocking losses to Corrie Sanders and Lamont Brewster made Wladimir seem like a losing commodity. But he bounced back nicely with victories over Samuel Peter, Ray Austin and rematches with Chris Byrd and Lamont Brewster. His renewed confidence and Sultan Ibragimov?s inexperience at the world-class level may be decisive.
PREDICTION. A Holyfield fight is no way to tune up for Wladimir Klitschko. Ibragimov has just not been tested well enough. Sure, he holds the WBO belt, but he took it from the faded and asthmatic Shannon Briggs
If Klitschko gets into a rhythm in the early rounds, and lands his sledgehammer rights, this could end early. But if Ibragimov lets his hands go and backs him up, he might have a chance. I?m predicting Klitschko to win it via unanimous decision.
The problem is you never really know which Klitchsko will show up. At the state the heavyweight division is in right now, anybody can beat anybody on any given Sunday.
SHOUTOUTS. Several are in order for our Last Rounders who do us proud: Louie Rusiana, a boxing enthusiast who came down fighting hard in the USJ-R student elections and on the hard-working Chris Medrozo, whom I met while dining at Chikaan restaurant. Give my best to your wife Jo-Ann and kids Emman and Sophia.
THE LAST ROUND. It?s on Atty. Oscar Tan Jr. and his smart little boy Oscar ?Third? Tan who both celebrate their birthdays this week. Cheers!
