A Loss and Wladimir is History
by
Garth Weaver
4/20 - This Saturday, April 23rd, many fans of Boxing will be tuning into ESPN’s first Pay-per-View extravaganza. There is however, another fight on HBO that night, where whom ever tunes in will get to see Wladimir Klitschko 43-3 (39 KO’s) in the ring against Eliseo Castillo 18-0-1 (14 KO’s).
The last time that we saw Wladimir was October 4th of 2004, where he won a Technical Decision in the 5th round against Davarryl Williamson, due to a nasty cut sustained by an accidental head butt. The fight was a tough one for Wladimir, as he was knocked down, and he did not look like he was brimming with the same confidence that he had before he met Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster. (Both men hold TKO wins over Klitschko.)
There are many people who have written off Wladimir as damaged goods, but I will reserve
that opinion until I see Klitschko fight on Saturday night. I do know one thing, though, and that Klitschko needs a big win over Eliseo Castillo!
Castillo is an undefeated Heavyweight whose biggest victory to date is a unanimous decision
over Michael Moorer. Castillo is looking to explode on the scene with a big win over the giant
Ukrainian boxer.
While a win for Castillo would put his name deeper into the heavyweight picture,
a loss for Klitschko could certainly damage his career beyond the point of repair. With that being said,
I don’t think that we can expect to see Klitschko lose this fight, but this is boxing, and anything can
happen. Wladimir does however have a very good resume, and there is a HUGE disparity in experience
between Klitschko and Castillo.
I think that the days of seeing Wladimir Klitschko coming out as a very strong offensive fighter are over.
He has shown that he can be knocked down, and that he needs to pace himself when he is landing on
his opponents. I think that we can expect to see Klitschko starting to fight the same cautious way that Lewis did,
using his jab, setting up the straight right, and working on protecting that chin. This formula may win
Wladimir some more critics, but it could also win him some more fights and prolong his career. Either way,
I seriously doubt that this fight goes the distance, and if Wladimir can win big, he may just find himself
a couple of fights away from a title shot.
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