By Jim Dower: Former WBO heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders (42-4, 31 KO’s) wishes that Wladimir Klitschko had sought to avenge his 2nd round knockout loss to him, and Sanders, now 44, doesn’t understand why Klitschko never tried to avenge his knockout loss to him. In an article at Sportbox.ru, Sanders says “Yes, it would be nice to fight him [Wladimir] again. I do not know why he never wanted a rematch.” Sanders latter on went up against Wladimir’s big brother Vitali Klitschko, who after a shaky start in which he was staggered and almost dropped, came back to batter Sanders to a pulp and stop him in the 8th round in April 2004. Sanders points out that Vitali’s size was too much, saying “But he [Vitali] is so big that it was difficult to beat him.”

Sanders thinks that Wladimir is vulnerable still, and doesn’t know if Wladimir would be still standing if he gets hit solid. However, Sanders thinks that Wladimir’s opponents have to be “bold and assertive” for them to beat him. He says that’s how Wladimir can make mistakes. Sanders “In our battle, Wladimir underestimated me, but afterwards he made adjustments.”

Sanders, a 6’4” southpaw, with lightning fast hands and huge power, was a very dangerous heavyweight in the 90s and the early 2000s. He never was able to make it past a certain level until late in his career when he shocked Wladimir by stopping him in the 2nd round. At the time, Sanders was 37-years-old, and Wladimir may have been thinking he was an older fighter and thus no longer dangerous.

You could see in the way that Wladimir fought him by going out and trying to slug with Sanders, that he didn’t really understand how much of a threat Sanders was until it was far too late. Wladimir ended up getting nailed with a number of big left hands from Sanders and knocked down twice near the end of the 1st round. In the 2nd, Sanders put Klitschko away after knocking him down for a third time.

It seemed like Sanders really had Klitschko’s number and even if there had been a rematch, many people believe Sanders would have easily knocked Wladimir out again. But to his credit, Wladimir soon after got a new trainer, Emanuel Steward, and after one more loss to Lamon Brewster, Wladimir has been unbeaten for the past six years, winning his last 12 fights. For his part, Sanders was beaten in his next fight after the Wladimir win, losing to Vitali Klitschko by knockout.

Sanders then beat three 2nd tier fighters before getting stopped in the 1st round two years ago by fellow South African Osborne Machimana. At 44, it’s hard to imagine Sanders being able to get into good enough shape to fight Wladimir.