Vitali Klitschko’s dilemma
July 31st, 2011
By John F. McKenna (McJack): When World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Vitali “Dr. Ironfist” Klitschko (42-2, 39 KO’s) steps into the ring on September 10 to face former cruiserweight and light heavyweight champion Tomasz Adamek (44-1, 28 KO’s) he will be facing a major dilemma.
Instead Vitali easily dominated Peter who could not get out of the way of his left jab, short left hooks and crushing right hands. It soon became apparent that Vitali Klitschko had not lost a step during his years of inactivity. If anything Klitschko appeared to be better than ever upon his return to the ring. Vitali won nearly every round in the fight with Sam Peter.
In the nearly three years since “Dr. Ironfist” returned to the ring he has won virtually every round of the seven fights he has had. Only Shannon Briggs and Kevin Johnson have managed to go the distance with Klitschko.
Vitali Klitschko’s fights usually fall into a pattern, whoever his opponent may be. His opponent attempts to move in on the 6’7 ½” Ukrainian. Klitschko in turn makes them pay for every mistake with his ponderous jab and short brutal hooks. Usually by the middle to late rounds his opponent has been beaten down to the point where Vitali is able to land his punches at will and the end shortly follows. That is the scenario which almost all of Klitschko’s fights follow.
Vitali is a chess player both inside and outside of the ring. You can almost see the wheels turning inside his head as he slowly dismantles his foe. He makes the determination as when to up the ante and end the fight. Viali likes to give his adoring fans in his adopted country of Germany their moneys worth.
Last March when Odlanier Solis challenged Klitschko things did not go quite the way Vitali had planned. Again you could see the wheels turning as Solis moved in and Klitschko allowed him to land a couple of ineffectual shots. Klitschko began to time Solis as he moved in and landed a shot to his temple which stunned Odlanier, after which he crumpled to the canvas.
To say that Klitschko was embarrassed at Solis’ performance would be an understatement. When Solis did not get up again Klitschko showed his disdain for him, not unlike Cassius Clay’s reaction when Sonny Liston went down in the first round in 1964 and did not get up again.
The dilemma that Klitschko has is that on the one hand he wants the fight with Adamek to be entertaining. He wants the fans to get their moneys worth, which the fans at the Klitschko – Solis fight did not get. Even though this fight is in Poland and not before his adopted German fans, Vitali would like to put on a show. When Klitschko fought Albert Sosnowski in 2010 it was pretty clear that he could have ended the fight sooner than he did. It appeared to some fans as though he had allowed the fight to go a couple of extra rounds. The problem Vitali has in his fight with Adamek is that much like David Haye’s fans in the UK, Tomasz’ Polish fans are extremely passionate. Adamek is a hero in Poland and fans there think he has a real good shot at winning. If Vitali does not KO Adamek or beat him decisively he runs the risk of losing a decision in the enemy camp.
For that reason Klitschko needs to take Adamek out and protect his title. Boxing judges are under many influences, not the least of which is a passionate crowd.
Tags: 17 Responses to “Vitali Klitschko’s dilemma”
Leave a Reply
please use above banner to link back to us!
If Vitali has the same mindset as all these writers. Adamek may actually steal this fight. Everyone that fights a K-bro is a underdog. But I haven’t even seen someone play devils advocate with Vitali/Adamek.
Solis lost and that´s a fact. It´s posible, very posible, that Solis went to lose this fights in anyway. But to hide that his defeat was caused by an injury on his knee is a lack of respect to the man, and specially to the boxer
It is such a shame for Solis! He came in overweight, was stunned by a shot to the temple and fell backwards injuring his knee. Half a round does not mean you have a fighter “figured out.”
How pathetich to think Solis was going to win. What promoter in his right mand would ever want to promote a rematch. Oh I get it! Vitalis is afraed of Solis! That is why Solis could not even bring himself to look at Klitschko before the fight!
mr writer if adamek connects more than klitschko he should be given the round…right?the same way with klitschko!so stop insinuating that adamek will rob him of this fight!if adamek wins that because he wins!plain and simple!
He said no to a rematch because no one would have paid again to sHe said no to a rematch because no one would have paid again to see him fight Solis. Both of Solis’s legs were wobbly after the knockdown. If he went down solely due to the knee only one leg would have wobbled. He was stunned. Even if he hadn’t damaged his knee he would have been stopped at that point, no question about it. He had his shot, came in massively overweight and blew it because he couldn’t take a punch. No excuses, doesn’t deserve a rematch. Why haven’t we seen Solis beat another top ten fighter since? I wonder.ee him fight Solis. Both of Solis’s legs were wobbly after the knockdown. If he went down solely due to the knee only one leg would have wobbled. He was stunned. Even if he hadn’t damaged his knee he would have been stopped at that point, no question about it.
Solis is the most skillful fighter in the heavyweight division. We don´t know what would have happened, he seem to land easy shots on Vitali at will. But he lost. Though I agree he might be a better contender than Adamek.
Whether Solis had the skills to beat Klitsko is a different issue.
The fact is that Solis had a knee injury and that’s why he fell down; that’s why he was unable to stand up.
McJack does little favour to boxing by implying it was a punch what put Solis out.
the old which came first chicken or the egg, or in this case the knee or the temple shot lol who cares. Solis landed a few shots in the first minute or so, then Vitali’s game tightened up. Solis would have lost regardless as he was in bad shape and was already eating jabs which would have got worse.
Adamek has lost speed and relative power since moving up. He will be KO’d late on by Vitali with relative ease. There are very few HW’s who could potentially trouble Vitali, and Adamek is not one of them.
@ Cosariao: Sorry to hurt your feelings pal but Solis did not belong in the same ring with Vitali. He is a wus!
If Adamek is extremely lucky he will remain on his feet the entire fight but he won’t be pretty to look upon afterwards.
Vitali’s punch got Solis out of balance and that caused the injury. There is no way Solis would have been competitive with Vitali for more than 3-4 rounds and there is no way Solis could KO Vitali. But he did pretty good while it lasted. I’d like to see him get 2-3 fights and then take on Wladimir.
I don’t know about you guys but to me it seems that the heavyweight division is growing, with Solis, Arreola, Adamek, Fury, Povetkin, Helenius and the Klitschkos (and perhaps Haye if he doesn’t retire), there are several interesting fights to be made.
Solis was in way over his head
It never fails to amaze me how may excuses the followers of certain fighters turn to.
Vitali is where he is by his work and experience. Solis injured his knee due to the fall caused by the shot to the temple, that’s it.
Adamek will come to fight and do his best, but as that old saying goes, a good big guy will always beat a good little guy.
Love your articles McJack, you are the only reason I still visit this site, keep up the good work.
@NARROW MINDED WRITER – Who’s the “clown”? You can’t seriously believe what you said. I mean, Klitschko haters are notoriously creative with their nonsense. But Vitali is afraid of Solis??? The guy’s knee didn’t just buckle for no reason. He got his on the temple just like McKenna said. Talk to anyone who’s ever been in the ring. I’ve hit people on the side of the head. It whacks out the equilibrium. Vitali caught Solis with one of those. The guy crumbled. That’s when the knee buckled. wake up.
Solis had vitali worked out. He tore his acl and meniscus you clown. All the weight solis had carried took it’s toll on his lower limbs. It is quite easy to do that injury after long lengths of stress. I am English and am a fan of haye but I certainly think solis is better and if he can get fit and healthy will give both K brothers trouble. Hence why vitali said no To a rematch.
Incrredible. Not even a mention that Solis lost was due to a knee injure. Solis lost the the balance and injured his knee while falling