Opinion Boxing,a family matter
On Saturday,World Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will put his suitcase full of titles on the line against Italian Francesco Pianeta in Mannheim
On Saturday,World Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will put his suitcase full of titles on the line against Italian Francesco Pianeta in Mannheim. It says something that a defence fight for the four belts (Ring,IBF,WBO and WBA super titles) is already receiving less attention than the one between two welterweights Robert Guerrero vs Floyd Mayweather Jr in Las Vegas.
The reason for the lukewarm interest is no one is really giving the Italian much of a chance of even getting to 12 rounds against Klitschko,who is expected to wrap up his 18th consecutive win. That the heavyweight division is dominated by Wladimir and his brother Vitali (who holds the WBC title) is simply a fact. Only Joe Louis (26) and Larry Holmes (20) have more title defences than Wladmir (13),who has 50 KOs in 59 wins. Vitali is only a couple of spots behind,alongside Joe Frazier and Lennox Lewis with nine.
It is not that the heavyweight roster is underwhelming and the two brothers have chosen easy pickings. Wladmirs defences have come against five former champions Sultan Ibragimov,Hasim Rahman,Ruslan Chagaev,Samuel Peter (in a rematch) and David Haye. And while new talent is coming up,youngsters like David Price and the brilliantly named Tyson Fury have a long way to go before they can genuinely claim a shot at the title. All boxing eras were made memorable by their rivalries: Ali-Fraser-Foreman or Lewis-Holyfield-Tyson and so it is an irony that the only contender who might challenge Dr Steelhammer, as Wladimir is known,is his brother Dr. Ironfist Vitali. But in a promise made to their mother the two have sworn never to fight each other,so thats that. In their amateur careers,the two even fought in separate weight categories,with Wladimir only stepping up to the Superheavy category (in which he won gold at Atlanta) when Vitali was dropped from the Ukrainian squad. With Vitali,41,now focusing on a political career,retirement is now a likely option.
Which brings us back to the fight at hand. In all probability it is going to be business as usual for Wladimir. Whether it makes the headlines or not.
(Jonathan is a senior correspondent based in Delhi)
jonathan.selvaraj@expressindia.com
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