Despite dominating the heavyweight boxing scene for a decade, the Klitschko brothers remained the sport’s unloved children. Is it time to starting giving them some credit?
By Michael Cunningham
Wladimir Klitschko silenced the the mouthy David Haye in front of 50,000 fans in Hamburg on Saturday night, defeating him in their heavyweight title unification bout via unanimous decision.
Haye had done the majority of the talking leading up to the fight but failed to back any of it up, turning in a performance as damp as the weather around the Imtech Arena.
Despite Klitschko’s vows to punish his English opponent, it was much the same fare we’ve come to expect from Dr. Steelhammer.
Wladimir used his superior size and reach to outbox an overly timid Haye over 12 rounds to take a clearcut unanimous decision. Haye won one solitary round on one ringside judges’ scorecard, though that didn’t stop the loudmouth Brit from raising his hands in victory when the bell rang to end the fight. All three judges gave it to Klitschko by large margins, scoring the fight 117-109, 118-108 and 116-110.
It would be unfair, however, to lay the blame for a underwhelming fight squarely at Wladimir’s feet. Despite all his talk about leaving the Ukrainian twitching on the mat, Haye fought defensively and instead flopped to the ground at every available opportunity rather than attack with any real menace.
The win was the 14th straight for Klitschko, who’s now undefeated since 2004, and improved his record to 17-2 in title fights. More importantly, he captured Haye’s version of the heavyweight title, meaning he and his brother now control all the major heavyweight title belts.
Vitali has never been knocked out – he has never even been knocked down – in any professional boxing bout, his only two losses coming via a shoulder injury during a fight with Chris Byrd and a deep cut above his eye against Lennox Lewis.
He has 39 knockouts from 42 wins and holds the best knockout-to-fight ratio of any champion in the history of heavyweight boxing.
And yet for some reason the Klitschko brothers remained the unloved children of heavyweight boxing. They have ruled their division for almost an entire decade, their dominance rarely brought into question by any opponent.
When they can dominate an opponent so completely, what incentive is there for them to chase the knockout?
The Klitschko brothers cannot be held responsible for the lack of top quality competition in their division. From a purely physical point of view there are no other heavyweights that come close to matching the brothers for physique and stature. Both have dutifully fought and defeated any opponent put in the ring opposite them.
Their pre-eminent status is thanks in no small part to the massive decline in heavyweight prospects from the United States. In the late 1980s and early ’90s there was a string of intriguing, exciting heavyweight match-ups. There were big names like Tyson, Holyfield, Bowe and Lewis who kept the division interesting.
Not any more. Indeed this was clearly highlighted in the past 12 months, with HBO passing on Vitali’s title fight against Odlanier Solis.
Without challengers of this calibre to test either brother, what reason would there be for Wladimir to chase the knockout against opponents like Haye, even if his trainer Emmanuel Steward was pleading with him to “get this guy outta here!” on Saturday night?
This is heavyweight boxing. One solid power shot, even from someone like Haye, can end a fight at any moment. What incentive is there for Klitschko to put himself at unnecessary risk when he can dominate an opponent so completely?
Wladimir and Vitali are far from the most entertaining champions in heavyweight boxing history, but they do one thing extremely well. They win.
And it looks like they will just keep on winning. With Vitali turning 40 this month and Wladimir now 35, retirement may arrive sooner than a credible rival.
Maybe history will be a kinder judge than their contemporaries.
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