By Scott Gilfoid: In a sign that IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) believes that he’ll be able to stay on top of the sport for at least another two more years, he’s reportedly signed a 5-fight contract with RTL, a German TV company, to have his next 5-fights televised with them.
It’s a risky gamble on RTL’s part, because the 39-year-old Wladimir could very well fall apart in his very next fight against Britain’s Tyson Fury (24-0, 18 KOs) in their fight on October 24th at the ESPRIT Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany. To be sure, if Wladimir loses the fight with the 26-year-old Fury, he’ll be getting a rematch against him.
Unless RTL has an opt out in the contract in case Wladimir starts getting whipped left and right, I see it as a bad move on RTL’s part in giving Wladimir a new 5-fight contract with their network. If I was the one pulling the levers in making TV deals for the giant network, I’d have kept the contracts limited to a 2-fight basis.
At least if Wladmir gets beaten by Fury on October 24th, RTL could then cut their losses after one more fight. If Wladimir loses that one too, RTL could go their own way and look to focus on the young lions instead old timers showing signs of decline.
Even if Wladimir beats Fury, he’ll be looking at having to face the talented WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder soon after in a unification fight. That’s a fight that Wladimir could very well lose and lose badly. Yeah, Wladimir can get a rematch with Deontay, but I could see the big Ukrainian getting starched just the same in a second fight.
“I can tell you in a half an hour I will announce an extension of our RTL with our German TV contract for another five fights,” Wladimir’s manager Bernd Boente said via skysports.com. “Tyson has always said that’ Wladimir will always avoid me.’ You’ve seen what happens. We are announcing the fight right now, and we’re looking forward to a fantastic showdown. Wladimir takes it easy. He’s had so many difficult opponents, and they all talked the fight. Some were a little bit calmer. Don’t forget that four years ago he [Wladimir] fought David Haye. He talked a huge fight. Let’s see what Tyson brings to the table.”
I don’t know about you but I think Wladimir did not look good in his last fight against Bryant Jennings last April. He looked like a fighter that no longer had the talent to win fights. If that had been Wilder in the ring with Wladimir instead of Jennings, I think Wladimir would have lost badly. He’s really slipped a couple of notches from the fighter he was 10 years ago.
I honestly don’t see Wladimir being able to win his next five fights or even half the fights unless he takes is easy and keeps fighting guys like Kubrat Pulev and Bryant Jennings. If Wladimir takes on Wilder or Alexander Povetkin, I see him losing to both. I know he beat Povetkin two years ago, but I think Wladimir has lost something from his game since then due to the aging process.
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