By John F. McKenna (McJack): Former heavyweight champion Iron Mike Tyson believes that he has the blueprint needed to defeat the Klitschko brothers. Between the two of them (Super) WBA/ IBF/WBO/IBO and The Ring heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (57-3-50 KO’s) and his brother World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (44-2, 40 KO’s) have dominated the heavyweight division for the better part of a decade.
Wladimir has effectively used his 6’6” height and overall size to dominate his normally shorter opponents. “Dr. Steelhammer” uses a piston like left jab from the outside to gradually break down his opponents. When they attempt to get inside he uses his lethal left hook or right cross to do real damage. If his opponent gets inside, Wladimir will tie him up so that he cannot be devastated by a shorter opponent.
It is a strategy that was developed by Klitschko’s legendary trainer Emanuel Steward and has worked extremely well over the last several years. Steward working together with Wladimir came up with the strategy to prevent a reoccurrence of the KO’s that “Dr. Steelhammer” suffered earlier in his career. Part of Steward’s strategy also was to work on Wladimir’s conditioning. It was thought when Emanuel took over the reigns as Klitschko’s trainer that the KO’s he suffered had as much to do with poor conditioning as his supposed weak chin.
With Vitali the situation is a little different. He is acknowledged to have one of the best chins of any heavyweight champion in history. He has never been off his feet and as a boxing writer I am hard pressed to remember an instance in which he was hurt. Vitali is a very resilient fighter and one of the amazing stats on him as that he has lost very few rounds and has never been behind in a fight.
For that reason, “Dr. Ironfist” is more apt to rough up his opponents and trade shots with them. Still, Vitali is very difficult to hit with a sold shot, using his 6’7 ½” height to maximum advantage. He fights off his back foot and leans back when his opponent throws a punch.
I remember the first time I saw Mike Tyson fight as a 17 year old amateur. I was immediately impressed by not only his punching power, but his speed and ruggedness. I remember telling a friend seated with me that his punching power and the way he delivered them coupled with his sheer ruggedness would propel him to the top of the heavyweight division. Within three years he was the heavyweight champion of the world.
Mike Tyson is something of a boxing historian. He idolized Jack Dempsey and to some degree emulated his style of bobbing and weaving. Like the “Manassa Mauler”, Tyson used the bob and weave technique to make himself more difficult to hit. Dempsey had a way of generating tremendous power at the point of impact when he delivered his punches. “Iron Mike” studied Dempsey and undoubtedly picked up some of his techniques.
When a student of the fight game, as Tyson is, says that he has a blueprint to follow to make it possible to defeat the Klitschko’s you have to sit up and take notice. Tyson believes that a fighter with the right mental make up, who does not fear the Ukrainian giants would have a shot at beating them. That fighter would also have to combine a bob and weave style with devastating punching power. The mistake Tyson points out that fighters make when they get inside is that they do not seize the opportunity and allow themselves to be tied up.
Tyson most likely, dreams of himself as being the fighter in his prime who could have pulled off a victory against the Klitschko’s. Unfortunately there are no fighters on the horizon with Tyson’s skills.
It is also worth noting that Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko ushered in a new era of super heavyweights. Joe Frazier at 6’ tall and 206 pounds would be puny by the standards of today. Tyson himself at 6’ and 218 pounds would be perceived as not much more than a cruiserweight. The legendary Joe Louis was 6’ 1” and weighed in at 200 to 207 pounds. Rocky Marciano shockingly, was 5’ 10” and weighed 185 pounds.
As hard as it is for old timers (of which I am one) to acknowledge it is highly unlikely that the fighters of yesteryear that we have come to idolize would fare very well against the new bread of super heavyweights.
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