By Nick Kelly: After Saturday’s rather lacklustre fight there was discussion as the whether Klitschko’s single handed victory merited a place within the top 10 or 15 of boxing’s pound for pound rankings.
Like his wins against Ray Austin and Lamon Brewster prior, Klitschko did not have to get out of first gear against Sultan Ibragimov. His superior reach and jab dominated the fight from the outset with the ensuing 11 rounds telling a similar tale as Wladimir coasted to a dominant decision.
It was an emphatic display, one in which Klitschko was never in danger, but was the decision and display good enough for an ascendancy in the pound for pound rankings?
The most obvious facet displayed in the fight, was not necessarily how well Wladimir boxed but just how cautious he was. Boxing behind his left jab he used his right hand sparingly throughout the fight and even when he enjoyed success throwing it, he rarely followed it up with more punches of substance.
Some may argue that the cautious style was a smart game plan considering how much was on the line and that one punch can end a fight (even more applicable to Heavyweights).
On Saturday Wladimir had the chance to reaffirm his place as the division’s number one fighter in both ability and excitement. What we saw though was a fighter who was not confident in himself and was content to box at a distance just so long as he didn’t lose.
Not long ago Floyd Mayweather was criticised and booed in a similar vein for his performance against Carlos Baldomir. On that night Floyd was significantly outweighed by Baldomir, but against a smaller opponent in Ricky Hatton he showed that he could use his boxing skills but still end a fight in style.
Having been put on the floor three times by Samuel Peter, Klitschko obviously realises that his chin is not the strongest, but his continuing cautiousness may be of greater hindrance.
The Heavyweight division has been built on great punchers, re-iterated no less in the HBO documentary shown in conjunction with the fight on Joe Louis.
The casual fight fan watches the Heavyweight division for the sole reason of catching a breathtaking KO. Klitschko has demonstrated his power on numerous occasions most spectacularly in his KO of Calvin Brock also at Madison Square Garden.
T he division needs a big, powerful, dominating fighter at the moment and Klitschko unlike many of the others has these in abundance. Throw in that he has a PHD, earns huge amounts for charities and speaks perfect English, he is a marketing dream and a fighter who can salvage boxing’s most prized division.
All that is needed is to open up a little more and let his punches flow. We’re not expecting him to be like Manny Pacquiao or Edwin Valero, but he needn’t be so over analytical with the way he fights.
And even if he does take a flush punch and goes down, he has shown the poise to get off the canvas and still win the fight. This is the element he should take assurance in, not that he went down in the first place.
Emmanuel Steward said that he hoped Wladimir would next face Nikolay Valuev. The fact he would not have a height, weight and reach advantage may well mean he would have to work harder than his past couple of fights. A first knockout of the seven foot ‘Beast from the East” would certainly bring back those disenchanted with Saturday’s performance and make him a legitimate top ten pound for pound contender.