By John F. McKenna (McJack): There has been much talk over the past few months by boxing pundits, fans and writers who are eager to point out that 41 year old WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (44-2, 40 KO’s) struggled against Derek Chisora (15-4, 9 KO’s).
Vitali also appeared to tire in the closing rounds against a fighter who had already lost to Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KO’s) and Robert Helenius (17-0, 11 KO’s). Also for the first time since “Dr. Ironfist” returned to the ring after a four year hiatus due to injury, he actually lost a round or two against Chisora.
Worse yet the doomsayers point out, former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (26-2, 24 KO’s) scored an impressive 5th round TKO over “Del-Boy” after winning the first four rounds handily. Vitali by contrast was not able to hurt Chisora let alone stop him.
While it is true that Klitschko appeared at times to struggle against “Del-Boy” his detractors conveniently leave out of the equation that he suffered a tear to the tendons in his left shoulder in the 3rd round that not only left him in excruciating pain but made it near impossible for him to use his left arm. During Vitali’s demolition of Tomasz Adamek (46-2, 28 KO’s) last September, famed trainer Emanuel Steward referred to Klitschko’s left jab as his signature weapon.
Many of Vitali’s critics attribute his success in boxing mainly to his 6’7 ½” height and insist that he has no real punching power. Quite to the contrary, Klitschko’s KO percentage is 2nd only to that of Rocky Marciano. For anyone who doubts Vitali’s punching power, all his former fights are available on the internet for anyone to watch.
It is doubtful that some of Klitschko’s detractors believe their own comments and instead are attempting to build drama for his upcoming fight with his undefeated opponent Manuel Charr (21-0, 11 KO’s). Klitschko and Charr will clash on September 8 at the Olympiskiy Arena in Moscow. The fight, which may be Vitali’s swan song as a fighter, will be carried by cable giant HBO via tape delay.
Not surprisingly Charr is predicting that he will shock the world by taking Klitschko’s WBC title belt. But what else would you expect a fighter to say who is challenging one of the most dominant heavyweight champions of all time? And until his match with Derek Chisora, Vitali had not lost a round since he came back in October 2008 to take the WBC title from then WBC heavyweight champion Sam Peter.
Tomasz Adamek was quick to concede that the reason he was defeated by Vitali was not his height advantage. Instead Adamek maintains that Klitschko is a superior fighter. Shannon Briggs (51-6-1, 45 KO’s), who was hospitalized for eight days after his loss to Vitali also credits Klitschko as being a superior fighter. What better way to measure Vitali’s fighting skill than to go by what his past opponents say about him?
Vitali Klitschko will more than likely once again put on a dominating performance when he steps into the ring on September 8 to face Manuel Charr and once again his detractors will remain silent.
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