13.04.04 –By Paul Ruby – thepaulruby@hotmail.com – It is only fair to begin this article by reminding the reader that I picked Wladimir Klitschko to defeat Lamon Brewster by 3rd round knockout. Boy, was I wrong! Apparently I missed the weaknesses in Wladimir Klitsckho’s game that resulted in the heavy late betting for a Brewster win and pushed the odds from 8-1 all the way to 4-1 in a matter of hours, or perhaps I was too blinded by his perceived physical gifts and his opponent’s long lay-off.
This fight reminded me of exactly why I love the unpredictability of the heavyweight division. Still, there were a number of troubling aspects of Wladimir’s performance on Saturday night that we should discuss now that we have had some time to reflect upon them. Few foresaw Wladimir running out of steam so quickly and this shows one of the potential drawbacks to his physical size. Before the fight, his new co-trainer, Manny Steward, commented on Wladimir’s fluid movement for a man of his size. While his brother Vitali moves in a more classically European pattern, Wladimir utilizes lateral movement a tremendous amount for someone his size. While circling allowed Klitschko to land his shots Saturday, it also took its toll on him physically. Wladimir also started employing a clinching-style of tying up his opponent during his last few fights, but especially in this one. This was obviously taught to Wladimir to help him muffle an onslaught like the one he endured at the hands of Corrie Sanders a year ago. Unfortunately for Wladimir, he did not appear to fully grasp the appropriate times to employ this tactic and it seemed to tire him out more than it did Brewster.
Wladimir’s punch volume struck me as strangely high, but I thought the oddest moment of the first four rounds was in Round Three. For almost three full rounds, Wladimir was jabbing and hooking off his jab very effectively. Although he was hitting Brewster with everything but the kitchen sink, Brewster kept coming. Then Brewster popped off a couple of lefts to the body and scored a reasonably big left upstairs. It prompted Harold Lederman to score the round for Brewster and the broadcast team believed it was the best shot of the fight to that point. I’ll give credit where it is due – it was a good punch. Certainly, though, it was not exceptional. The exceptional part of the punch was Wladimir’s reaction to it. He was clearly stunned by it. Again, it was a good punch, but Wladimir landed several harder punches than that over the course of the first four and a half rounds that had a clearly less significant impact on Brewster (with the notable exception of Brewster going down and struggling to make it out of the 4th). To be honest, I am still questioning whether it is Wladimir’s chin or his confidence that is the bigger problem. He did not appear confident in his ability to take Lamon Brewster’s best shot and, as we soon learned, his chin would not allow him to do so.
It is clear to me that this fight hurt Wladimir Klitschko’s career more than it helped Lamon Brewster’s. Wladimir does not appear to possess the confidence he showed in the ring with Jameel McCline or Chris Byrd prior to the Corrie Sanders demolition. He obviously possesses amazing physical talents, but talent makes good fighters, not great ones.
Psychologically, Wladimir does not appear to have the mentality to engage in a war and that is necessary for title-winning-success at heavyweight. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel. Coming up, Ankiel was a young, commanding stud pitcher anticipated to be an ace for years to come. A great athlete in addition to being a very good pitcher, but somewhere along the line Ankiel lost it upstairs, could not locate the ball, and regressed all the way back to the low minor leagues. Ankiel is on the comeback trail now, but it remains to be seen whether he will ever regain his form of old.
Lamon Brewster, on the other hand, showed just the opposite of Wladimir Klitschko. He showed he can be outboxed (which we already knew), but that he’s got a great heart and a pretty decent punch. The combination of Lamon Brewster will to win and Wladimir Klitsckho’s problems with fatigue and confidence came together to earn a victory for Lamon Brewster, who lived up to his ‘Relentless’ moniker. Brewster has never been stopped and, although floored by Wlad, he appeared to have a very strong chin after standing through a pretty severe beating for four-plus rounds. He did not box effectively against a much taller man, but he now holds the WBO belt and, in my eyes, that’s what it’s all about. I sincerely hope Lamon can defend this belt a few times and put some good coin in his pocket over the coming years, because he deserves it. I don’t know if that can happen, but I very much hope that it does.
I found Brewster’s comments after the fight both appropriate and refreshing. He had one particularly amusing sound bite about how he knew Klitschko would tire, even if it was of punching him. He also discussed his late trainer and mentor, Bill Slayton, and made a couple of nice references to being a proud American.
From a proud American to a proud St. Louisan… I thought Cory Spinks beat Zab Judah by a count of 114-113. I can understand the frustration of some fight fans who thought Zab took the fight, but I would remind them of two things. First, is the old adage that ‘round one counts just as much as Round 12,’ (unless there’s a knockdown like in this fight). In other words, simply because Judah looked great late in the fight did not erase the fact he essentially gave away rounds one through four. Second, we got a great fight and exceptional sportsmanship (except for those ridiculous ring introductions) from a pair of fighters not necessarily known for either one. I thought Spinks would be too physically large for Judah in his first fight in a new weight class and the first four rounds showed Zab did not feel fully comfortable yet at his new weight. That said, he flashed the same great hand speed he always has and should adjust to the new weight in time. I would likely pick him to win a rematch, and I would not be surprised to see these two go toe-to-toe again.
The fights Saturday evening in Las Vegas certainly provided fireworks, but the telecast left a sour taste in my mouth. Overall, Roy Jones, Jr. should be commended for his work. He was very accurate throughout the Spinks/Judah fight and spoke with a clear, slow voice and a lot of confidence. He was not overly technical, but made astute and accurate comments that pressed even hard-core fans to think from time to time. Still, he let his emotions boil over after Wladimir Klitschko was stopped and that was unprofessional. Still, Roy’s gotten some great coaching from someone over the last few years and is becoming a pretty respectable presence on HBO; I hope they can retain him. On the other hand, the viewers were subjected to Larry Merchant. Larry was at his best when he knew Big George was there to tell him he was wrong. Nothing held Larry in check Saturday and his post-fight interviews were peppered with too much unprofessional behavior. He told Cory Spinks to ‘answer the question’ he’d asked and told Lamon Brewster’s entourage that, if they didn’t have some respect, he would stop the interview. He actually scolded Brewster’s people like a bad parent scolds a young child and it made everyone both in the ring and at home feel uncomfortable. Lamon handled it like the class guy he is by apologizing to Larry and saying something to the effect of ‘Oh, they’re just excited.’ It was a classy way for a boxer celebrating a monumental and improbable achievement to handle a truly classless move by a television commentator. Perhaps viewers equate Larry’s advancing age with knowledge, which I believe is a mistake. I would hope Larry controls himself better in the future and lets fighter’s responses, and not his own questions, drive his interview process.
My emotions were all over the map. I felt happiness for Lamon Brewster – he showed the ability to win a big fight and secure some paydays down the road. At the same time, I felt disappointment for Wladimir Klitschko – he was plagued by some of the same problems that have haunted him in the past and will continue to cause him problems in the future. He has accomplished some great things in boxing already, and I fear that his admittedly serious faults will cause too many people to forget the great things he did against Chris Byrd and Jameel McCline. If Wlad can regain confidence, he can make some noise, but there will rightly always be some doubt about his fragile chin and self-confidence. I remain intrigued to see whether Wladimir will choose to pick up the pieces and address his flaws. Regardless, if the upcoming heavyweight cards provide anywhere near as much drama, excitement, and fodder for discussion, we should all be pleased as punch.