Scoop: King Vitali Spectacular. Again
Reported By: Boxing Insider - 12.13.2004 12:12 AM
By Scoop Malinowski
A major statement was made to the heavyweight division on Saturday night: The Klitschko "world domination" has officially begun.
Klitschko's first WBC title defense was an almost perfect performance of intelligence, patience and extreme violence. The way the new king brutalized the determined Brit was reminiscent of two of the all-time great heavyweight classics - Foreman vs. Frazier I & Lewis vs. Tyson. Klitschko was so deftly on his game he made it look downright easy. The bottom line is that Vitali is the best fighter in the world today, until proven otherwise.
I believe that even Lennox Lewis has to admit now that his successor is an awesome fighting machine. Perhaps Lewis will even begin calling Vitali a "pugilist specialist."
He should.
Klitschko's style is somewhat similar to Lewis's, though maybe not as aesthetic to look at. Sort of like his predecessor, when Dr. Vitali is operating, he resembles a scientist at work, picking apart, probing and dissecting his subject until he sees the correct opportunity at just the right time to end the experiment. Klitschko's authoritative ring presence also calls to mind a military general controlling the battle with his height and strength while also employing a creative variety of attack punches to keep the opponent at a safe distance.
Also to his credit, the 33-year old champion still seems to be an steadily improving force. We saw some new weapons utilized and deployed, particularly those crunching body punches and uppercuts.
It is hard to imagine any heavyweight of today aside from Lewis being able to overcome Vitali - if Vitali can maintain his current level of focus and motivation for the sport (and avoid complacence and the temptation of opportunities beyond boxing). It seems likely that Rahman, Barrett, Toney, Moorer, Ruiz, Byrd, Brewster and Golota would all be in trouble with Vitali. And the WBC mandatory James Toney, who is three inches shorter and about 35 pounds smaller than Williams, and who struggled to hurt cruiserweight Rydell Booker in his last fight, could possibly get seriously or even permanently injured.
During the destruction of Williams I even found myself wondering what some of the all-timers like Ali, Frazier, Marciano or Louis would be able to do against the unique stick and jolt style of this Ukrainian behemoth. How would Ali, who rarely ever threw body punches, get himself into range? How could Ali hurt Vitali, who can endure a strong punch? Would having to take the offensive risks be the demise of the much smaller Ali? Just what could Ali do to deal with Klitschko's size, style and elusiveness? Would Frazier (who was much smaller than Williams) meet a similar fate as Danny did against Vitali? Could Vitali keep Louis, Dempsey and Johnson out of range? The intelligent and effective Klitschko style appears, at this point, to be capable of maintaining domination. Lennox Lewis is about the only style that I can see troubling Vitali. Maybe also the young Mike Tyson who used a creative and blurring blend of speed and footwork to work his way inside. (Note: If anyone has any ideas on what kind of style can defeat Vitali now, please send them to me - for a future column - as I'm currently stumped. Send to
[email protected].)
While the critics are now criticizing and questioning the strategy of Williams or lack therof, I think a more accurate assessment would be that Williams' strategy to use body punching, pressure and aggression went out the window once he got clobbered in that first round. The reality set in that Klitschko was by far much harder to fight in reality than he seemed on videotape. Williams admitted so after the fight.
It seemed poor Danny just had no idea what to do...perhaps similar to Tua against Lewis, Frazier against Foreman, Berbick against Tyson, Willard against Dempsey or Trinidad againts Hopkins. But I'll tell you, if Danny was in the ring on Saturday night against Toney, Ruiz or Rahman, I'd put my money on Williams. He was serious, determined, courageous and dead-set on achieving his lifelong dream. It just so happens he had the unfortunate luck to run into a warrior who was too big, too smart and too good.
The theme of this fight is Vitali Klitschko is still an improving fighter who made his first defense a smashing success. And it did appear a lot easier than it was expected to be. Undoubtedly now, King Vitali is going to be a very difficult champion to knock off, especially if he keep on getting better and more experienced. And our former champion, who commentated on the pay-per-view telecast, who used to say he was getting better
The theme of this fight is Vitali Klitschko is still an improving fighter who made his first defense a smashing success. And it did appear a lot easier than it was expected to be. Undoubtedly now, King Vitali is going to be a very difficult champion to knock off, especially if he keep on getting better and more experienced. And our former champion, who commentated on the pay-per-view telecast, who used to say he was getting better with age, like fine wine, could indeed be the only man capable of seriously testing Vitali in 2005.
Questions: Where was Chris Byrd and John Ruiz, who both live in Las Vegas? Ruiz challenged Vitali to a unification match last week in a letter that was widely published. If Ruiz was so serious and interested in fighting Vitali as he made it seem, why wouldn't he be there to issue the challenge face to face? Where was Don King who controls Ruiz? Why did Ruiz not challenge Klitschko after his victory (as Tarver did to Jones after Jones beat Ruiz)? Was his pre-fight challenge just a publicity stunt to score points and actually a ploy to look brave had Klitschko lost? Why didn't Ruiz wait one week later till after Vitali won? Keep your eyes and ears open this week and let's listen closely to Don King and John Ruiz and let's see if they really want to challenge Vitali now.
Speaking of people who have done a lot of public talking about challenging Vitali, why wasn't WBC mandatory James Toney at ringside?
And the most important question of all, would Don King be willing to risk Ruiz and his WBA title against Vitali's WBC belt - WITHOUT demanding ANY future options on the Ukrainian?
What kind of hairdo is Lennox Lewis going to come up with next?
Do you know who the last man to KO Vitali Klitschko is? Hint: It was in a Russian amateur military match over ten years ago.
What was the punch used to stop Vitali? (answers below.)
With Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton both having highly impressive wins, is the junior welterweight division now the most intriguing weight class in boxing today?
Vitali's post-fight quotes:
"I went to the hospital as a precaution because both my hands were swollen, They are taped now but the doctor said I will be fine and could fight in a couple of months. Nothing is broken. This is no big deal.
I cannot say exactly when I hurt them, or with what punch, but I first started to feel pain in the hands in the second round, and felt more and more pain in each round thereafter.
I feel good. I did not take a lot of punches in the fight. Danny Williams did never hurt me.
I tried to finish him in the first round, but Danny Williams showed a lot of heart and came back. I was very surprised at how many punches he took.
I am happy with my performance, but fights, like life, are all about learning and gaining experience. I hope the fans enjoyed our fight tonight. I fight for the audience. They are the ones who pay to watch me fight and I hope they will want to watch me again.
The best is yet to come.
I am not prepared to say who I will fight next, or when the fight will be, or where. There are several possibilities, lots of big names. We will see.
This victory was important not just for me, but for my country. This is the first time a Ukrainian sportsman is a boxing world champion. I hope I made the people there happy.
My brother, Wladimir, and I leave for Germany early in the morning (Sunday) and will spend one day there before heading to Ukraine."
Answers: Oleg Maskaev. Left hook.
Scoop Malinowski is a Boxinginsider.com contributor.
ну что,пиздец.Новый менеджер братьев кличко хорошо отрабатываетсвою зарплату.корреспонденту тоже перепало по-ходу.
) это то, что они не держат удар. белые парни невыносливые. 
в Германии он тусил раньше..
