By Daniel Hughes: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko celebrates his 38th birthday today. He also can celebrate nearly 10 years unbeaten as a pro as a heavyweight champion. The old saying styles make fights; styles also make fighters. Klitschko should know this full well, as he reinvented his career 10 years ago. You can cast your mind back to March 2003, when the late game southpaw Corrie Sanders pulled off a shock 2nd round stoppage in Germany.
The question’s asked of Klitschko after losing his WBO strap, he didn’t find the answers straight away. The same critics already bringing up his 1998 fight against Ross Purrity, a fight that really was a major upset when Wladimir’s 24-0 record went with a shock 11th round TKO loss to Purrity.
The Sanders’ fight was a big shock, but Sanders was certainly underrated, and in my eyes a dangerous fighter, with a dangerous counter-punch style. Wladimir’s camp started to make changes following that loss. The changes were certainly not smooth at first. The great Emmanuel Steward was bought in two fights later in a fight between Wladimir and Lamon Brewster. This was a fight in which Brewster climbed off the floor in the 4th to stop Klitschko in the 5th. The proof being that though Steward was changing his style, like many things, change takes time.
When the commentators, scribes and a large percentage of fight fans had written him off he went back to square one. The combination of working behind a ramrod jab, nullifying opponents then imposing himself the game plan. Emmanuel Steward a boxing grand master, molded a pupil that has used that template, never forgotten or waived from it. Ring intelligence, planned, perfected the fact 10 years on it’s a code that’s yet to be cracked.
The late great Steward knew he had a fighter with the requisite tools to succeed with a tweaking of style. The trainer and fighter on the same page, executing the plan, the formula.
Wladimir Klitschko, nearly 10 years on, 38 today and 15 title defenses under his belt. Styles make fights sure, but as the late Mr.Steward knew, make sure of your fighter’s style.
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