By Allan Fox: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) is quickly developing a reputation for facing weak opposition instead of the very best fighters in the heavyweight division.
It’s strange how all the positive feelings towards Wladimir after his victory over former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye two years ago has pretty much disappeared with Wladimir facing three consecutive weak opponents in Jean-Marc Mormeck, Tony Thompson and Mariusz Wach.
Wladimir will now be facing his fourth consecutive weak opponent in Francesco Pianeta (28-0-1, 15 KO’s) on May 4th at the SAP-Arena in Mannheim, Germany.
Wladimir didn’t appear to be ready for the latest firestorm of criticism when he chose to maneuver around a much better opponent in Alexander Povetkin to take a much, much softer one in the 6’4” weak punching Pianeta.
Wladimir seems to have been expecting a different reaction from boxing fans because he immediately went on the defensive instead of agreeing with the fans in an open manner.
Wladimir said “I’m always criticized with my opponents; it doesn’t matter if they are well known or not so much… I have to assure you that (the) fight against Francesco Pianeta is going to be very, very tough.”
Wladimir pretty much said the same things about his last three over-matched opponents Thompson, Mormeck and Wach, and guess what? Those fights weren’t tough, and they weren’t competitive.
So should boxing fans take Wladimir’s word for it that Pianeta will be a tough fight for him or should fans ignore what Wladimir is saying and see it as another fight where he’s selected someone that he can easily beat rather than facing someone that actually can give him a tough fight?
There are some good heavyweights that are capable of giving Wladimir a lot of trouble but he’s not fighting them for some reason. Here are the heavyweights that he should be facing:
Kubrat Pulev
Alexander Povetkin
Tyson Fury
Bryant Jennings
David Price
Magomed Adusalamov
Robert Helenius
You can even throw in a rematch with Haye. It would be a lot more interesting to see Wladimir face Haye for a second time than seeing him fight over-matched opponents like Mormeck. Wach, Pianeta and Thompson.
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