Wladimir Klitschko Is Owed An Apology and Good Luck
by
Buster Paris
4/18 - I started to write this coming from a completely different place. My purpose before doing any research was to tear Wladimir Klitschko apart. I couldn’t understand why he’s still relevant and every time I thought about it I’d get so irked that I couldn’t see straight.
The final straw was when I saw that Boxing Digest has him ranked as the number 8 heavyweight in the world. That was it for me. It’s time to put pen to paper and expose this fraud being perpetrated on us boxing fans. I mean c’mon the man just doesn’t have the chin for the top 10.
Corrie Sanders knocked him silly in 2003 with a 2nd round TKO. Everyone – even Corrie himself was completely surprised at the result and it was this fight that got everyone talking and questioning Wladimir’s chin. Heck I heard grumblings about his brother Vitali – if Wlad’s got a glass jaw then Vitali has to also right? – Vitali answered that one as he was winning – yes winning - his battle against Lennox Lewis just 3 months later, but I digress…
Wladimir number 8 in the world? – Didn’t an incredibly overweight and out of shape looking Lamon Brewster also expose that chin just last April 2004 with a 5th round TKO?
I decided that the best way to reveal this fake fighter was to dissect his record. On paper it’s pretty impressive 43 wins and 3 losses. Upon a closer look I found that 39 of those 43 wins come by knock out. That’s 90% of his wins by knock out and his entire career “reads” far too impressively to not unearth it’s deceit.
I decided to go for the jugular and here’s where it got embarrassing and eye opening – and why I owe Wladimir a huge apology.
My plan was to pick apart each opponent before the Sanders fight and show how this Klitschko fought a bunch of nobodies and that his career is a sham.
Before Corrie Sanders he beat Jameel McCline…JAMEEL MCCLINE!?!? – must be a different Jameel…nope it’s the same one. I slunk back in my chair and couldn’t believe that he beat “Big Time” Jameel McCline via a 10th round TKO in 2002.
It’s no easy task to beat Jameel and it’s especially difficult and rare to knock him out. The only other time Jameel had lost by KO was his 2nd fight as a professional and honestly it was this discovery that showed me that Wladimir must have talent. I didn’t need to search anymore, but I wanted to prove so badly that Klitchko’s a phony, so I convinced myself of the possibility that this was fluke. So who else was there?
Before McCline he beat “Merciless” Ray Mercer and before Mercer he beat “The White Buffalo” Francois Botha and 2 years before that he beat Chris Byrd and Monte Barrett.
I couldn’t help it. I was impressed. Heck – I was extremely impressed and very humbled at how wrong I was. The idea that he could take a punch from McCline and Botha tells me he has a chin or at the very least had a chin. At the very least he justly earned his record the hard way.
Wladimir – I was wrong about you and I’m sorry.
They’re saying that this Saturday – April 23rd 2005 is a very important fight for Klitschko. It’s his ticket back into title consideration. He’s facing Eliseo Castillo, the Cuban born up and comer with a record of 18 wins and 0 losses. Castillo’s last win was a unanimous decision over ex-Heavy Weight Champ Michael Moorer. This kid can fight.
Wladimir has everything to gain and everything to lose and the results of April 23rd will either set him on a path back to the respect that he deserves or place him teetering on the edge of what potentially could be the downward plummet of his career.
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