By Chris Williams: photo by Pavel “Eagle eye” Terehov – I don’t know about you, but I thought IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (52-3, 46 KOs) looked like garbage out there in beating Hasim Rahman (45-7-2, 36 KOs) on Saturday night. With Rahman, 36, on the ropes in the 6th round after being knocked down from several left hooks, in classic form, Wladimir jabs and probes at him as if he were trying to deactivate a live bomb. Instead of getting a knockout, Wladimir jabs for the remainder of the round and looks terrified of being hit.
That round was the make or break it round for Wladimir, because if he had taken Rahman out with a strong surge of power shots, Wladimir could have undid much of the cautious, safety-first style that he had fought in the five prior rounds. But, instead of firing off some meaningful punches, Wladimir played it safe and jabbed for the remainder of the round.
While Wladimir was able to get the knockout at the start of the 7th round, his moment to shine had already passed, because Rahman looked like he didn’t want to fight period as he started the 7th, and was looking for an excuse to bow out. Had this been the only fight in which Wladimir had looked overly cautious and seemingly afraid to throw power shots, I could excuse it away, and chalk it up to him just having an off night.
However, this is the 6th consecutive fights where Wladimir has looked afraid to throw power shots and has fought on his back foot, throwing mostly jabs at his opponents. If you contrast this with his former style of fighting pre-Emanuel Steward, it would be a complete opposite.
Back then, from 1996 to 2004, Wladimir was aggressive, an all out attack heavyweight who came out fast with both guns blazing, throwing power shots and trying to take out his opponents from the first round on. This is the period in which Wladimir attracted a lot of his current fans, many of whom saw his style as something that would bring back to the excitement of the Mike Tyson era of boxing.
Instead, after losing to a couple of power punchers, first Corrie Sanders and then Lamon Brewster, Wladimir’s style of fighting was changed to that of a watered down version of former champion Lennox Lewis. In the case of Lewis, though, even in fights where he fought cautiously, like against David Tua and Vitali Klitschko, he wasn’t afraid to freely exchange with his opponents at some point in the fight.
Wladimir, however, only seems to throw power punches when he knows that he has his opponent nearly out on his feet from having been jabbed to death. The effect that Wladimir’s change of fighting style has had with boxing fans is that many of them have become turned off, bored with him and have instead turned their attention to the lighter weight classes.
Yet, despite the criticism that has been leveled at Wladimir in the media, his style remains unchanged. Against Rahman, Wladimir looked just as cautious and afraid to mix it up as he’s looked since losing to Brewster in 2004.
At 32, it may be that Wladimir will never be able to change his style again, perhaps because his losses to Brewster and Sanders has scarred him so badly. If that turns out to be the case, it’s too bad because if he had the courage to turn up his offensive style a notch or two, he would be a much more exciting fighter and would have many more fans than he does now.
At this point, he is what he is, and probably won’t be changing his style of fighting ever again. If anything, I see him becoming even more cautious as he ages and mixing it (if that’s actually possible) even less than he does now.
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