Heavy As They Wanna Be

For a while now, Emanuel Steward has been making the claim that right now Wladimir Klitschko deserves to be considered amongst the best heavyweight fighters of all time, and that he probably would defeat another Manny Steward trained champ, Lennox Lewis.

At the beginning of this blatant p.r. campaign, I laughed. Nowadays, not only do I not scoff, but I'm not sure that I even disagree. Manny has done for Wlad exactly what he did for Lennox - taken size and raw talent and power and turned it into a mobile, accurate one-two machine. I mean, Wlad v. Lennox is a tough one to call, but I'll tell you this - I'd take either of them over Marciano.

We mourn the state of the heavyweight division these days, have now for years, and with good reason. But Klitschko is on a one-man journey to bring respect back to the big boys by unifying the belts and becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champ since Lennox the Lion left the scene. He begins his quest tomorrow night, pitting his IBF belt against the WBO edition owned by Sultan Ibragimov. A southpaw brawler, a silver medalist at the Sydney Games (where he got pummeled in the final by Cuban legend Felix Savon), Ibragimov is a 4 to 1 underdog to Klitschko in tomorrow's bout, as well he should be. He gives up three inches in height (by conservative estimates), four inches in reach, 19 pounds in weight, and an inestimable amount of mobility and boxing savvy.

But the real tale of the tape lies in the videotape, namely of the last two fights of a certain heavyweight journeyman named Ray Austin. In July of 2006, Austin fought Ibragimov to a very entertaining draw, the only non-victory on Sultan's record. Both men tasted the canvas in what turned out to be a surprising slugfest.

In Austin's next bout in March of '07, he faced Klitschko in Germany. Even if you watched this bout, you may not remember it, because it was over quickly:



One would hope that Ibragimov has studied that tape a few times and thought better of his own customary stance in the ring - face forward, hands slung low. Like a lamb to the slaughter.

Now look - many Ibragimov apologists have pointed out that Sultan knocked Austin down early as well but Austin was in better shape then and more determined than he was in the Klitschko bout. I'm skeptical. Ibragimov has shown some legitimate moxie in his career and no one questions his power. Still, I think the fight we're going to see tomorrow night is a mismatch, and will be one of Wlad's easier obstacles on the path of unification. My prognostifications have been way off the mark lately, so I'm not going to do any round-calling tonight (though my heart is telling me the seventh... or fifth) and just put my reputation behind this call - a stoppage for Klitschko. His power, his mobility, his long jab - nothing I've seen from Ibragimov has led me to believe that he can keep the Steelhammer at bay for long.

(P.S. - I'm here in New York and will be on press row for the fight. I'm looking forward to the main event, but I'm also very much looking forward to Duddy on the undercard and just to the general vibe of a heavyweight title fight at the Garden. Even in such lean times as these, the big guys at MSG still bring out an electric atmosphere. Look for my coverage of the bout tomorrow and Sunday both here and over at The Sporting Blog.)