Boxing: Do the Klitschko Brothers Have Any Competition?

On Saturday, July 2nd, months of hype and building enthusiasm dissipated into an unexciting, one-sided decision victory for Wladimir Klitschko over upstart Englishman David Haye, as the Ukranian champion added the WBA strap to his collection of promotional trinkets.

After nearly three years of insisting to anybody who would listen that he had the solution for the Klitschko brothers and the game plan to knock either out, Haye spent most of the fight either running away from the younger Klitschko brother's imposing jab or else flopping onto the canvas, in an attempt to get the referee to take points away from Klitschko for wrestling.

The general consensus among fans seems to be letting Wladimir off the hook for the lackluster fight. He imposed exactly the fight he needed to impose upon Haye, and Haye chose not to engage with him.

It seems almost as if Haye never seriously considered how dangerous the 6'5" champion was until he was actually in the ring with him.

Hopefully the fight will raise Wladimir Klitschko's profile in the US and by extension, his older brother Vitali's. To be sure, the two brothers have put together remarkable heavyweight careers.

Their co-dominance of the weight class over the last seven to eight years has been nearly as thorough as we have seen in the history of the sport.

Because they are good sons who love their mamma, they have taken a solemn vow to never fight each other. It's unclear at this point how much longer either of them will even continue to fight.

But for now, they continue to have the heavyweight division as locked down as any weight class in the sport.

With David Haye swept into the dustbin of history, it's time to take a look at the on-deck circle, to try to figure out if there is anybody out there at all capable of giving the Klitschko brothers a good fight.

Up Next: Tomasz Adamek

Next up for the Klitschkos, older brother Vitali takes on Tomasz Adamek, the former light heavyweight champion.

Adamek is an exciting fighter, and like Haye, he has his true believers. He has had an impressive run at heavyweight, including a decision victory over Chris Arreola.

Adamek easily handled Kevin McBride, a fighter of similar size to the Klitschkos, although fat and slow. Adamek did an excellent job of moving inside on McBride, drawing his punches and countering with flurries.

This is exactly what Adamek will need to do against Vitali Klitschko. However, the fact that he was able to do it with a lot of success against McBride in no way makes me believe he will do so against the older Klitschko.

It must be noted that McBride demonstrated almost no jab at all. While Vitali does not have the punishing jab of his brother, he is more than capable of using it to disrupt an opponent, especially a much smaller one like Adamek.

Adamek is a tough guy and this fight should be more exciting than Wladi versus Haye. I believe Adamek will take the risks he needs to take to have a chance to beat Vitali. That means hands should be flying. And Vitali is a more wide open, aggressive fighter than his younger brother.

But ultimately I have to believe that Adamek, like Haye, is just too small. His lone career loss came to Chad Dawson at light heavyweight. Chad Dawson is a great fighter, and losing to him is no shame.

But it's kind of hard for me to believe that anybody who lost to a 175-pound Chad Dawson is going to beat a 250-pound Vitali Klitschko.  

Alexander Povetkin: Undefeated Pupil of Teddy Atlas

Just 21 fights into his professional career, Alexander Povetkin has already moved up to No. 4 in the Ring Magazine heavyweight rankings.

He is a true prodigy of the sport. During his teen years he was among the most successful kick boxers in Europe.

He switched to boxing at 21 and was a dominant force in the amateur ranks from the start, culminating in his Gold Medal run at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, where he walked through the international competition at super heavyweight. He has yet to lose as a pro.

His highest profile victories include wins over Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers.

At one point, he was being fast-tracked into a showdown with Wladimir Klitschko, but Teddy Atlas, who had recently been brought on board to tutor Povetkin in the professional game, insisted that his new charge was not yet ready for the champion and got the fight called off.

But make no mistake, the venerable trainer and all around boxing expert clearly believes he can turn Potvetkin into a world champ. At 6'2" and nearly 230 pounds, Potvetkin is legitimate heavyweight, not an inflated cruiser or light heavy.

My opinion is that Potvetkin would have a lot of trouble with either Klitschko brother. He fights with a powerful, bullying style that I think could be difficult to implement against larger men with high levels of technical skill.

But Teddy Atlas is going to have some strategies for getting Potvetkin inside, and the Russian just might be rugged enough to make the game plan work.

The wild card will be Potvetkin's chin. It is hard to imagine him escaping a fight with either Vitali or Waldimir without taking some significant punishment. But I do believe Potvetkin will be able to deliver punishment back.

One of Potvetkin's more recent fights was a one-sided 10-round decision over Jason Estrada, a former American Olympic team member. Potvetkin connected with solid combinations throughout the fight, but Estrada was still managing to hustle and move in the last round.

Potvetkin won by a wide margin on all cards, but he did not look like a man who had experienced an easy night of work. It's hard for me to imagine that a guy who has to work that hard against Jason Estrada beats either Klitschko.

Maybe I am making too much of it, but on the eye ball test, it just doesn't quite add up. 

Denis Boytsov: The Other Undefeated Russian

Denis Boytsov is 27-0 with 22 knockouts in his professional career. He did not have the same amateur credentials and American connections as Potvetkin, and so he remains obscure in the American media.

To my eyes, he looks very much like a future world champion.

Like the Klitschkos, Boytsov lives and trains in Germany. He is even trained by legendary East German trainer Fritz Sdunek, a former Klitschko coach.

One would assume the sage Sdunek has developed very interesting theories for how to beat the two brothers. Boytsov looks like the kind of pupil who would absorb those lessons like a sponge.

Boytsov is not flashy but he does everything very well. He moves side to side and in and out smoothy. He slips punches and delivers brutal counters. I watched three fights to research him for this article.

It really didn't take long. Such has been his dominance so far that the three fights combined only totaled 10 rounds.

Against Mike Sheppard and Israel Carlos Garcia he was simply overpowering. He smashed each man into submission in the second round.

In Taras Bydenko, he had a fairly lanky opponent who knew how to use a jab. Boytsov responded with a very good jab of his own, with excellent head and shoulder movement and above all, with a punishing body attack that gradually moved upstairs and put Bydenko away in six.

The legitimate criticism on Boystov is that he hasn't been tested yet at a higher level. He is well overdue for some kind of significant, high profile exam.

At first glance, he seems a little small to beat a Klitschko. But he uses uppercuts superbly, both to the body and the head, from the lead left hand and from the power right. 

He has never encountered a punishing jab like Wladimir's, or even one as good as Vitali's, but Boytsov does very much have the type of style that could handle being the shorter man, looking to explode inside. 

Boytsov is a very patient, even methodical fighter when stalking his opponent, but once he sees an opening, he lets his hands go and delivers excellent uppercut-overhand flurries, in a manner not unlike the young Tyson.

He just might have the skill set and the mental toughness required to actually implement the sort of game plan that David Haye was only able to talk about.

Of everybody in the Ring Magazine top 10 for heavyweights, I think I might give him the best shot of beating up one of the Klitschkos. 

Chris Arreoloa: The American Hope

Chris Arreola has already been beaten up by Vitali Klitschko, stopped in the 12th round. His only other career loss was a unanimous decision to Tomasz Adamek.

He is currently ranked 10 by Ring Magazine. In the past few months, he has shown a renewed sense of commitment to his career. He fought twice in May of 2011, dispatching two lightly regarded opponents, but showing off a lean, 234- to 236-pound frame.

The rap on Arreola has always been that he has good skills, good heart, good power but that he doesn't put in the time training to lose his love handles. That criticism now appears to be off the table.

I don't honestly see any reason to believe Arreola could win a rematch against Vitali, and I see even less reason to believe he could beat Wlad. But much like with David Haye, Arreola has a fan base that believes in him.

In the Inland Empire region of Southern California alone, there are probably over a million people who have at least a passing interest in Arreola's career. That's the kind of thing that promoters care about.

If Arreola keeps moving forward the way he is now, a title fight is most likely out there waiting for him. It could be against one of the Klitschkos.

Other Americans: Eddie Chambers and Tony Thompson

Tony Thompson knocked out Maurice Harris on Friday Night Fights last May, in a fight that was supposed to be a warm up for an upcoming match with Eddie Chambers.

The winner of the Chambers-Thompson tilt is supposed to receive a bout with one of the Klitschkos.

Wladimir has already KO'd Chambers in 12 and Thomspon in 11, and it is not clear to me who, if anyone, would be interested in seeing either man fight either Klitschko again.

Thompson, who at 39 looked very slow in knocking out the immobile and defenseless Harris, strikes me as a particularly illegitimate opponent for either brother.

Chambers, who could easily make the cruiserweight limit, frankly seems too small to ever beat either Vitali or Wladimir. 

Alexander Dimitrenko: The Other Giant Ukranian

Alexander Dimitrenko is a six-foot seven inch Ukranian heavyweight fighting out of Germany, with a professional record of 31-1. He is currently ranked seven by Ring Magazine.

It is tempting to want to view him as a young version of the Klitschko brothers, and you can certainly see their influence when you watch him fight. I think it is more realistic to see him as a decent contender destined to never escape his elder countrymen's long shadows.

Dimitrenko's lone career loss came to "Fast" Eddie Chamber. It was a majority decision, with one judge scoring the fight a draw, but I am willing to call that judge out as bogus. The other two judges scored it for Chambers by wide margins.

Against Chambers he looked completely vexed by a high level professional opponent, despite the enormous size advantage he held over the American.

He has a fight scheduled with journeyman Michael Sprott. If he wanted to step up to top-10 competition again, I would be quite interested to see him fight either Chris Arreola or Ruslan Chagaev.