Wladimir and Vitali Klitscho Need to Fight

With the current state of the heavyweight boxing division, things have gotten to a near stalemate at the top. The two Ukrainian monsters, Wladimir and Vitali Klitscho have a stranglehold on the heavyweight division and they refuse to compete against one another.

If they do not get into the ring they will continue to lose combat sports fans to MMA every month.  The heavyweight division, being ruled by the Klitschko brothers, would be a bad thing if they were challenged.  However, when they refuse to fight each other and simply destroy all other competition, then it is a problem. 

At least Wladimir is going to fight David Haye this summer.  To me Haye, the WBA champion, is the only worthy opponent left for either Klitscho brother who presents any real test outside of Nicolay Valuev.  The two have been scheduled to fight before, but the fight will finally happen on July 2nd.

The real question is, who really gives David Haye a chance?

Wladimir has beaten all opponents over the last few years by knockout, both early and late.  He batters them with his jab and knocks them down for good with hooks and powerful right hands.  He is 6’6” tall, over 250 pounds and he uses good movement to get good snap on his jab.

Haye has little chance of beating the champion and more likely will be given an honorable mention for having the heart to stay in the pocket.  If Wladimir wins this bout, he will hold the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles.  That is three of the four slices of the heavyweight titles that matter in the grand scheme of things. 

The other major title, the WBC crown, is held by the older brother Vitali Klitschko.  Vitali has been equally dominating over the last few years and he now stands virtually unopposed, with an iron grip on his title belt as well.

Both men seem to be sitting on the top of the hill with little or no chance to be bounced off of it anytime soon. There have been a lot of fights for the two men, but now only one makes sense.

They must fight each other.

Yes, they are brothers and have said that they will not, but they should for three reasons. One reason is that they would make a boat load of money, more than they could otherwise.  Secondly, there is really no one else.  Lastly, they could finally determine who was the better boxer and each could retire knowing the unanswered question of who is the better boxer of the two brothers.

I fear that if this does not happen in the next year or two, heavyweight boxing will be hanging onto it’s once popularity in the United States by a thread.