The Most Important Heavyweight Fight in Years
The title unification fight this Saturday night, Feb. 23, in Madison Square Garden between IBF champ Wladimir Klitschko and WBO champ Sultan Ibragimov will not only be the first time since 1999 that heavyweight titleholders from various sanctioning bodies strive to bring some resolution to the crisis caused by the absence of one consensus heavyweight champion of the world. This fight will be, hopefully, the first step in that process.
More significantly in the long run, it will be a key historical moment in the rise to prominence of heavyweight fighters from the former Soviet Union, and, conversely, of the dismal end of the 20th century dominance of that division by Americans.
Much of the American boxing media, who usually only see stars and stripes, cannot explain this phenomenon, and yearn for the days when the heavyweight champs had names like Jack, Joe, George, and Mike, and not Wladimir, Oleg, Ruslan, and Sultan. Rather than welcoming the emergence of this recent crop of heavyweights into the professional ranks from lands where such activity was previously banned, we get jingoistic laments coupled with an astonished incapability of explaining either the rise of the fighters of the former Soviet Union or the fall of the fighters of the USA.
Klitschko and Ibragimov may not be all-time great fighters or the most exciting ever to wear a heavyweight title belt, but the winner will be perhaps one fight away from establishing himself in the eyes of the public as the true heavyweight champion of the world. If the Klitschko-Ibragimov winner takes on the winner of the March 8 fight between WBC regular champ Oleg Maskaev and WBC interim champ Samuel Peter, and especially before the end of 2008 or by early 2009 at the latest, we should then have an unequivocal one-name answer to what has been one of the most complicated questions about contemporary boxing to answer since Lennox Lewis’s last fight almost five years ago: Who is the heavyweight champion of the world?
posted by Eddie Goldman @ 2:19 AM
15 comments
15 Comments:
I know Klitschko-Ibragimov is an important fight. I just wish I could get more excited about it.
I only see one American heavyweight who might be a player, Kevin Johnson, but I wouldn't bet on it. The new breed of Russian heavyweights show just how far a fighter can go with good conditioning, fundamentals and basics, along with some hunger and will, at least in the heavyweight division. Wladimir Klitschko is the only Russian heavyweight who I'd consider outstanding.
He'd provide many all-time greats a lot of trouble due to his size, reach and power. His vulnerability is his durability and chin, but there's a price to pay trying to get to it. Some past greats would be in peril for a few rounds attempting to get inside to nail him.
Klitschko is the best today. But when all is said and done, he's a poor mans Lennox Lewis. Which is far and away good enough to be at the top of the food-chain in todays glamor division.
Maybe it's inferring too much to connect America's obsession with heavyweight title ownership to that part of its national character that goes in for being the biggest and the best. But you don't hear American announcers or read American journalists frantically calling for a "Great American Hope" in, say, the junior bantamweight division. This tectonic shift over the last decade among the heavyweights is not that much different than many of the earlier ethnic turnovers that have periodically taken place in boxing. The hungriest cultures have always gravitated toward the sport. Wladimir Klitschko has repeatedly pointed out that he's fighting for the "world" heavyweight championship. He's right. It's reassuring to know that someone in boxing has the good sense to realize that. It's too bad more broadcasters and writers haven't figured out that internationalization is an entirely positive thing.
I agree with the Internationalization of Boxing. But I really think a big problem regarding the heavyweight division is, the Russian heavyweights fighting today, aren't good eye candy for the average Boxing fan. They don't posses that one thing that make them must see that draws in quasi fans. Something many of the foreign lighter weight fighters posses.
Actually, I think it's a pretty interesting fight even just as a fight.
I mean, yes, the world-historical angle is compelling: not just the rise of the Eastern European heavyweight, but also the rise of the Eastern European and German fight-business types. This fight puts a kind of crown on that double process--and maybe in another generation, when everybody's going on about Chinese boxing as the big thing, people will look back at Klitschko-Ibragimov as a high water mark for that cohort.
But even just from a boxing point of view I'm interested to see what will happen. That's mostly because on paper Ibragimov doesn't appear to have much of a way to win. Klitschko is bigger, stronger, hits harder, is about as good a boxer, has more experience in big fights, etc. etc. Ibragimov's really not that impressive in any one area, and I wouldn't begin to make a case for him as a great or even a very good heavyweight. But he's smart, he's getting better all the time, he's resourceful, and he follows a game plan pretty well. He's not a big hitter but he can pressure if he has to. That shouldn't be enough to beat a complete champion, but I don't see Klitschko as that. I just don't trust either Klitschko to live up to his physical gifts. As they go deeper into a fight, they become less reliable: they get winded, they can lose heir heads, one of their artificial-looking muscular bulges can go sproing and start leaking motor oil, they can decide it's not worth it to carry on under duress, all kinds of things can happen. So one thing that makes the fight interesting to me is to see if Ibragimov can figure out a way to still be in it past the halfway mark and then bring pressure to bear at a time when the Klitschkos grow ever less reliable. That doesn't seem like an impossible formula to work out. It doesn't guarantee a win, and it might make for some slow and careful early rounds, but it might make for a rousing finish.
I disagree about the relevance of this fight. Most fans see Wladimir Klitschko as being the legitimate heavyweight champ and the most formidable fighter in the division. He may not have all of the belts, but they're not the be-all they once were. Larry Holmes was never the undisputed champ. No, Klitschko is no Holmes, but he's been a dominant fighter since reclaiming the title.
The only way this is a big fight is IF Ibragimov wins, in my opinion. It'll also be a bad thing IF that does happen. The fact is, Ibragimov won't be remembered once he's retired. Ibragimov was shook a few times by a 46 year old Holyfield in his last fight. IF he upsets Klitschko, it would be huge, but it would hurt the division overall.
Ibragimov sure seemed relaxed and confident at the open workout today. Klitschko was also there, and Emanuel Steward, who is about 60, was bouncing around in the ring seemingly faster than Klitschko. But Klitschko is the diplomat in this fight, and thus more marketable in the good ol' USA. That, of course, will never have any influence on the judges, never.
Klitschko may be the best heavyweight today, but he is not recognized by the public, fight fans, or even himself as being THE heavyweight champion of the world. This fight is one step towards that.
True, he does not have to win every belt to earn that recognition. If WBA champ Chagaev keeps hiding out in Europe fighting guys like Skelton, now maybe Krasniqi, and his mandatory Valuev, that belt will remain the least consequential. But if the Klitschko-Ibragimov winner faces the Maskaev-Peter winner, we very likely have ourselves one guy who is THE.
Eddie, I bet IF you polled the fans coming out of Pavlik-Taylor, as to who's the best heavyweight fighter currently, seven out of 10 would say Wladimir Klitschko. He's been seen the most, has defeated the best opposition, and in the most impressive fashion.
IF not Klitschko, would they say Chagaev, Peter, Valuev, Ibragimov or Povetkin?
Seven out of ten could not name more than one of the fighters you mentioned, if that. I am asked all the time by lapsed boxing fans who the heavyweight champion of the world is today. Once you start WBCing and WBOing them, they look at you like someone or the whole sport is mad.
Klitschko may be the best heavyweight, and I'd vote for him as number one if we had a boxing journalists' poll again, but that is different from being recognized, accepted, and dubbed the heavyweight champion of the world. He still has more to do to earn that -- and he even repeatedly says as much!
It may be sort of like declaring the Patriots the Super Bowl champions after they completed their undefeated regular season.
Since Lennox Lewis's retirement, boxing needs some sort of Super Bowl in the heavyweight division to crown a successor. This fight is a good start.
I don't think it's a bad thing for boxing if Ibragimov wins. And I think that all of the current heavyweight title fights are potentially interesting since the guys contesting for the championships are relatively equally matched. At least we're getting forward motion in the division. Nobody is really being ducked either. So ideally the division will wind up with someone who is more or less universally thought of as the real champion. And next Saturday's fight will start to reify a new era in heavyweight history, perhaps not noteworthy for the quality of its participants, but--as Carlo suggests--as a harbinger for even greater cultural shifts to come.
I disagree Charles. Ibragimov didn't look all that good beating the corpse of Evander Holyfield. IF he beats the guy who most consider the most formidable Fighter in the division, it'll lower the mean of the division as viewed by most fringe Boxing fans. At least that's how I see it. I think an outstanding Fight best serves Boxing and the division.
Frank, I take your point. But I'm thinking more long-term than just who wins the fight itself. We already know that no one from the pack is going to emerge as an all-timer anyway (Klitschko very much included.) So his being knocked off the number one spot, although a surprise, doesn't turn the boxing world inside out. Besides, it might not mean much that Ibragimov didn't tear Holyfield's head from his shoulders. First, he's not that kind of fighter. And, to use Evander himself as an example, he looked awful in "beating" Bobby Czyz one fight before he permanently laid the Mike Tyson myth to rest. I'm adopting an optimistically wait and see attitude toward next Saturday's fight.
Charles, understand what you're saying. It's just that I see Klitschko as being the only fighter, due to his size (which he's learned how to use) power and pretty good technique, as the only heavyweight who would be viewed as the legit champ. When all is said and done, he's a tier below Lennox Lewis. I think that's pretty good.
Yes, I know I'm the only one here who sees Lewis as an all-time great top-10 heavyweight champ. As for Klitschko, I could see him beating some of the past greats. Something I can't say about one other heavyweight in the world. And IF he loses to Ibragimov, then that is null & void. This is the reason why I say it's bad for the division, from an interest vantage point, IF he loses.
I can't imagine Wladimir Klitschko doing anything against the past greats other than having his head handed to him by them. Any great fighter would immediately pick up on his insecurities and rip him to pieces. Corrie Sanders (who we can probably all agree isn't an all-time great) was damn near laughing at Klitschko en route to knocking him out.
I didn't say Wladimir Klitschko is an all-time great, obviously he's not. But I do think he matches up favorably with a couple of them. Some of those all-time greats were stopped by Fighters no where near as big, nor did they punch, with their Hook or right hand as hard as he does. Sanders can punch, and Klitschko got caught. Other than Marciano & Ali, every other all-time great has been counted out. Again, I'm not saying he's an all-time great, but it's not like they all walk right through him.
Mike, I can't see any way for Hopkins to win. In the interest of full disclosure, please note that I said exactly the same thing about his chances against Antonio Tarver. It speaks volumes about Bernard's intelligence that he went right after Tarver's least obvious but most assailable defect: his character. He'll have no such luck with Calzaghe, who is as steady as the North Star.
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