If the Klitschko Brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, were anything but two giant white guys from the Ukraine, America and the rest of the boxing world would worship them as gods. If, let?s say, they were from Indiana or Brooklyn or even a coupla brown guys from Mexico City, they?d be international superstars instead of champions that boxing fans take for granted or dismiss as boring despite their high 90 percentile knockout ratios. Add to that Wladimir?s eight-year, 15-bout winning streak or the fact that between them, the Klitschko Brothers hold every major belt at heavyweight. The fact remains, despite all that, WBA/WBO/IBF/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who faces Tony ?The Tiger? Thompson this Saturday at the Stade de Suisse in Bern, Switzerland (in a rematch televised by the EPIX network), is as unappreciated a champion as ever there was.
Think about it. Few champions, if any, can actually claim they emptied out their division. Vitali and Wlad seem to be lapping it at this point. Thompson lost via knockout in 11 on July 12, 2008. Now he is back at age 40 to try and turn back the clock and right the wrong from so long ago.
?Well, camp is good and obviously our expectations are to reverse the outcome of our last match that we had in ?08,? Thompson said on a recent conference call. He cited a leg injury at the time for his performance which was actually respectable until the end. ?It?s hard enough to fight Klitschko with two legs but I really was on one leg. I had a torn meniscus in my knee. Unfortunately, I wasn?t able to train throughout training camp or, you know, prepare for the heavyweight championship of the world. I think this time, we were able to prepare.?
Joe Louis, who holds the record for most heavyweight title defenses at 25, had what was referred to as the ?Bum of the Month Club.? Now, Thompson is no bum. He is a very respectable fighter who has worked himself back into title contention through the proper channels to once again become a mandatory challenger to Wladimir?s IBF belt. That?s not the champ?s fault. Unlike every other division, heavyweight champions are only as good as the contenders in their division push them to be. That is to say, Wlad can maybe pull challenges from cruiserweight and he can keep polishing off heavyweights as they ripen (or return as Thompson did) but it?s not like he can move up or down in weight to seek a bigger name. It doesn?t get bigger than heavyweight champion. But again, Wlad- and how he is perceived by the fans- is trapped in a mediocre division.
?I didn?t choose Tony Thompson to fight. I?m forced to fight Tony Thompson because he?s, for all the respect that I want to give him, he has been fighting his way back to the top to become number one challenger in position- number one at the IBF. And so I have to defend my IBF title and fight him,? said Klitschko.
So rather than spectacular fights against equal opposition, Wlad Klitschko- and his brother to an extent- is stuck being consistent with the hope that longevity will ultimately prove their greatness.
?That?s not my business,? said the champ when asked to rank himself in history. ?I?m enjoying myself to be in sport and you guys- I mean, as an insider, I?m standing in the ring and I?m facing the challenge and as I said before it?s (pauses)? it?s a tough job to get on the top but it?s even tougher to stay on the top. And we?re two different fighters, different styles, different attitudes, different cultures, different promotions and everything else. But I?m not putting myself- I mean, I?it?s going to be wrong if I would say I don?t care about legacy. I mean, they?re should be something about legacy but I?m not really thinking of it and not putting myself in a line with other boxers and names. That?s not my job; that?s your job, guys.?
Thompson says he learned from the first fight that to beat Wlad Klitschko, you have to be unafraid and very aggressive. To be static against a Klitschko is to wait for him to knock you out.
?Well, first of all, (inaudible) fight his ass. You know a lot of people, they sit back and they just accept the inevitable, that?s not- that?s not what we are coming over to do. This is going to be a fight; I can guarantee- I?m not going to say to you that I?m going to guarantee victory and all that and, yes, I?m going in to this to win but one thing I can guarantee is that I?m going to fight,? promised Thompson. ?I?m going to come forward. I?m going to press the fight. I?m going to try to take the lead in every round. So I?m not going to sit back and let him jab me, right hand me to death.?
In the end, Thompson likely won?t win and that is why we penalize Wlad Klitschko. We want to see him in with a challenge but barring a fight with his own brother or a talent suddenly emerging from nowhere, that person does not exist. So we have to see how Klitschko does with the opposition given. In his opinion, Thompson will, at the very least, bring the fight his way.
?I?m expecting from Tony Thompson to be as aggressive as possible because that?s his last chance for sure to fight for a championship. And I think Tony Thompson knows it pretty well. I think he knows it better than anyone else,? said Wlad.
?It?s not a little bit of chance; it?s my last chance,? agreed Thompson.
Will this fight prove Wlad?s greatness or that there is a bias against two giant brothers from the Ukraine? Nope. Nothing will because in this American-centric sphere of thought that is boxing in the United States, the heavyweight division doesn?t matter because an American doesn?t hold the titles. It?s an odd world view from people who still cite the tired catchphrase ?America is the greatest country in the world? without looking at the stats of education, the economy, health care or any number of tangibles we trail in. The heavyweight division is just another one.
For now, we should just enjoy the Klitschko Brothers while we have them. They are every bit as unique in their excellence as the division is barren of talent to challenge them properly.
?I?m going to be pretty honest and open here,? said Klitschko regarding the rematch no major cable provider wanted. EPIX stepped up and is investing valuable time and effort in their second televised Wlad Klitschko title defense. ?I would rather take some- some fighters that I hadn?t fought, someone new, but I had no choice. So I have to defend my titles and I think that to fight Tony Thompson is definitely not an easy job, so it?s not going to be a vacation fight for me. So it?s going to be challenging and- and tough on one hand. On the other hand, as I said, if you ask me, would I choose Tony Thompson or fight someone else, I probably would go for some new names and the fighters that I haven?t fought.?
For a champ looking to define himself, perhaps that right there says it all. It?s not sexy or exciting or even that compelling. But it?s honest.
?But whatever we have, we have here and I have to- I have to say something- something good about Tony Thompson,? continued Wlad. ?He has been focusing on this fight, on this rematch for a long time because I?ve been watching all the fights and his comments after the fights. And he was like- he was always mentioning [my name and how] he?s going to get eventually the rematch. And that shows that man is determined to make a fight. And now the time- time passed by fast, four years. Now he?s going to be in the ring next week Saturday.?
Will fight fans ever appreciate Wladimir Klitschko, now 36 years old? Not at this rate is my answer. For now, he is in a ?Damned if you do; damned if you don?t? situation. If Thompson puts up a great fight but loses again, we saw it already. If he extends Wlad, ?Maybe Klitschko is slipping? will be the word on the street. And if he just blows Thompson out of the water, we will say, ?He simply did his job.? There is no glory in consistency, it would seem.
