By Gav Duthie: Wladimir Klitschko has dominated the heavyweight division for almost a decade. Floyd Mayweather has dominated boxing ever since he scraped past Jose Luis Castillo. Both are very much in the twilight of their careers and have more fight earnings than you could spend in a lifetime.
In their next fights Wlad faces yet another mandatory challenger in Kubrat Pulev while Mayweather is covering old ground against Marcos Maidana. At 38 and 37 respectively I am waiting for those career defining fights that they both need to cement their legacies. For Wladimir up to now his biggest win would have to be David Haye, but I don’t see that as career defining.
My hope for Klitschko is that Deontay Wilder is as good as some people say he is. If Wilder can take the title from Stiverne and beat another top contender like Jennings or Perez this would set it up. I’m asking a lot, Wilder could be a fraudster still we don’t know. As for Mayweather he has 3 fights left and we know the next is Maidana.
So that gives us two. If its any combination of Amir Khan, Danny Garcia, Kell Brook, Shawn Porter, Keith Thurman etc etc then I don’t think these guys take his career any further apart from his bank balance. They are all good fighters but he has fought many good fighters. Lets face it Mayweather could probably get record PPV buys fighting a traffic cone but the only fight that will add to his legacy is Manny Pacquaio. When you pass on to the next life you can’t take your money with you but your legacy will live forever.
Joe Calzaghe has said he will always be eternally grateful to Jeff Lacy for helping him show the world he belonged in the boxing hall of fame. When Joe stepped into the ring at the now Manchester Arena he was 40-0 but very few gave him a chance.
Calzaghe at 33 years of age didn’t get any better that night he was always that good he just needed someone else to show it. If you don’t get that fight, it might just be one, then you might miss the chance to show that you are a true great. Some of the worlds most talented fighters don’t get them. It might not be their fault, look at Roy Jones Jnr.
There has probably never been a more explosive, talented fighter but where was the other guy. The opponent that would have let us know if Roy really was that good. John Ruiz? James Toney? Nobody else really came along and then all of a sudden Jones wasn’t very good anymore. Salvador Sanchez was only 24 when he died but he still got his. When he knocked out Wilfred Benitez in the 8th round everybody knew.
Benitez was destroying everybody he was 32-0 (32) so when Sanchez boxed his head off he could stand there chest out and say I’m the best. The fab 4 Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns its hard to seperate them but in head to heads Sugar Ray Leonard comes out on top so he has to be the best. Muhammed Ali had two of them.
When he fought Frazier and Norton he couldn’t really put them down, there were other less talented fighters he struggled with but when it came to Sonny Liston and George Foreman he was at it 100%. Nobody else could beat these guys, they were express trains and they weren’t stopping. Before both fights Ali was considered a joke. At 22 he was a mouthy young pretender, the louisville lip, at 32 he was past it. You can say what you want about the rest of their careers but those were the nights that really mattered.
Its based on fact it makes all our opinions redundant. If you beat your white whale then you shut everyone up. Floyd Mayweather needs Manny Pacquaio and Wladimir Klitschko needs a superstar to emerge.
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