Wladimir Klitschko Wins, Boxing Fans Lose Yet Again

The heavyweight division used to be the glamour division of boxing.  Title fights were not just boxing events but sports events. 

Names like Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Mike Tyson became sports stars and transcended the game of boxing.

Unfortunately, the heavyweight division as currently comprised has become an absolute shell of its past glory.  Perhaps the biggest indictment of the sad state of the division came this past Saturday night in Germany as Wladimir Klitschko jabbed his way to yet another lopsided decision victory. 

His opponent, the brash talking Brit David Haye, promised not just excitement in the lead up to the fight, he promised a stunning knockout. 

He delivered neither in a virtual non-effort and went away quietly like each of Wlad’s last nine opponents. But let’s not lose total perspective here.

David Haye is nothing more than a blown up cruiserweight. He won his WBA heavyweight title from perhaps the worst heavyweight champion of all time short of John Ruiz. 

Nikolay Valuev, who in his previous fight lost to the ancient Evander Holyfield regardless of what the scorecards said, was nothing more than a freak show and not much of a fighter. 

It shows us how bad the heavyweight division is that we pinned our hope on David Haye. While it’s true that a Haye victory would’ve been the best thing for boxing even his fans had to admit it was a longshot going in.

In the aftermath of Wlad’s latest safety-first, take zero risks performance there has been a lot of chatter giving him credit for the perfect gameplan and dominating the fight.  But again, it’s a matter of perspective.

If you enjoy a fighter whose entire gameplan is to jab for 12 rounds and take zero risks then Wladimir Klitschko is your guy. But his style is suffocating the heavyweight division. 

When you have a man in front of you, which is often the case with Wlad, who has no interest in making a fight you have to knock him out.

There were many rounds where David Haye would throw less than 25 punches. He would feint; he would move and occasionally throw off a looping bomb that a blind man could block.

But that was it. That was his entire offensive attack.  And yet Wladimir was content to live and die with the jab. No risks, no rewards Wlad.

Yes, you beat David Haye. All that matters on the ledger is that you won more rounds than the other guy.

But in the overall picture, this is another bad night for boxing. When the heavyweight champion, the man considered by most to be the biggest dog in the biggest division, is content with this performance, then boxing is in trouble.

And on a side note, if it were Vitali Klitschko in there, David Haye wouldn’t have heard the final bell.