Who Would Beat Wladimir Klitschko? [2011]

Klitschko’s 14-fight win streak (10 of which have been recorded by knockout) and seemingly recent invincibility places him unquestionably at the top, along with his brother, among today's heavyweights. But how about the heavyweights from other eras? What heavyweights from the past possessed the qualities necessary to beat him?

A thorough exploration of that question requires a recollection first of the three fighters who have beaten Klitschko and the circumstances sur rounding those wins: Ross Puritty, a sturdy, 6’3”, 225-pound journeyman, backed up the 22-year-old Wladimir, took his bombs with little fuss, and stopped him in the 11th round in 1998. Corrie Sanders, a 6’4”, 240-pound southpaw with incongruously quick and heavy hands, dropped Klitschko with an overhand left in the first round in their bout in 2003 and stopped him a round later. Lamon Brewster, 6’2”, 228 pounds, let Klitschko empty his considerable guns for four rounds in their match in 2004 before stopping him with a series of crackling power punches in the fifth.

We would be remiss if we failed to note that each of these losses came before Klitschko and Emanuel Steward fully perfected the style we see Little Brother employ over and over and again today: the cautious, reserved approach that is based entirely on Klitschko’s excellent jab, which softens up and demoralizes opponents to such a degree that by the time Klitschko finally opens up with power punches—if he opens up with power punches—the opponent is more or less happy to have it over with. (And so are we.)
Indeed, the Wladimir Klitschko of today is so far removed from the one who collapsed against Puritty—moving all over the ring, slinging wild punches, lunging off balance—it might as well be a different fighter altogether. Still, it stands to reason that those three fighters possessed qualities that would be valuable against any version of Klitschko, pre- or post-Steward.

And the common denominators would seem an iron chin, stamina, and resolve, or, in Sanders’ case, who in the main lacked at least two of those requisites, considerable offensive firepower. Who fits the bill?

“There’s a whole string of guys, but Larry Holmes is at the top,” trainer Buddy McGirt, who trained Brewster for his disastrous rematch against Klitschko, told The Ring. “Larry Holmes had that jab, man. He had one of the best jabs since Joe Louis. His jab was unbelievable. And Larry had heart. He just wasn’t gonna fold. At a late age, he beat Ray Mercer and went 12 rounds with Evander Holyfield. Holmes would have knocked Klitschko out.”
It can be argued that Holmes’ greatest weapons outside his jab were his stubborn refusal to lose and his ability to fight through pain and near catastrophe. He fought brilliantly with a tom biceps muscle in his thrilling 15-round title-winning slugfest with Ken Norton in 1978 and with a broken thumb against “Big” Roy Williams in ’76.
Holmes came off the canvas to win three times in title defenses: against Renaldo Snipes, Mike Weaver, and the bomb-throwing Eamie Shavers. It is impossible to envision a scenario in which he would fight solely to survive against Klitschko, as have the great majority of Klitschko’s recent opponents, including Haye.
It is, however, easy to envision Holmes’ movement, stinging right cross, and pure grit serving him well against the bigger, stronger Klitschko, as it did against the bigger, stronger guys he defeated: Gerry Cooney, Randy Cobb, Carl Williams, and James “Bonecrusher” Smith among them.

“You gotta jump in his ass, you gotta jump on him,” said McGirt. “You can’t sit on the outside and play games with him; you gotta jump in his ass. That’s what Mike Tyson would have done. Klitschko doesn’t move enough to have beaten a young Tyson. Mike would have put that heat on his ass.”
Much has been written about how over rated Tyson was in the beginning, but vintage Tyson, say, 1986-’89, was a force of nearly unparalleled barbarism in the ring whose ability to explode out of a crouch with speed and power made him unique among all heavyweights ever. Doubters will have trouble seeing how Tyson, at 5’10”, would have reached the chin of the 6’6” Klitschko, but prime “Kid Dynamite” beat Tony Tucker, Jose Ribalta. and Mitch Green, all 6’5” or better, not to mention Carl Williams, Lou Savarese, and Bonecrusher Smith, all 6’4”.
“I think Tyson would have stopped him within five rounds. The way he would have come at Wladimir and with his punching power would have been a real nightmare for Klitschko,” said Rob Murray, trainer and manager of Eddie Chambers, whom Klitschko stopped in 12 rounds in March 2010.
“You have a guy who does not fight inside at all,” Murray told The Ring. “He grabs and holds on the inside, and his eyes open up like golf balls when he gets hit. You got guys who would have come to him and fought him on the inside that would have hurt him enough on the inside and made him back up. Backing up is not what he does.”

Murray cited 1990s heavyweight monster Ike Ibeabuchi as likely to beat Klitschko. At 6’4” and in the high 230s to 240s, he had the bulk to compete with Klitschko physically and the chin, fearlessness, and conditioning to run him ragged.
Fans will recall Ibeabuchi walking through the best left hooks David Tua had to offer and outhustling him on the way to a decision win, not to mention blowing out Chris Byrd. He was a fight or two away from getting a shot at Lennox Lewis when he was arrested and, at this writing, is still serving time.

“Anyone who can give you head movement, come in, and be a murderous puncher [would beat Klitschko],” Murray said. “If you can get to the target and hurt him, I think he’ll forget everything that Emanuel told him. When you get a guy who can come and can punch, your whole thing is I can’t let him get close to me. If I let him get close he’ll hurt me. Wladimir does not fight well when hurt and doesn’t take punches well.”

[Wlad vs Haye fight] was hardly the stuff of, say, the Evander Holyfield-Riddick Bowe trilogy, two more guys who in their primes would have done well against Klitschko. Bowe, at 6’5”, would very nearly match Klitschko physically and, at his best, was a superb and determined technician with a heavy punch. And he loved going against big guys. He obliterated 6’7” Jorge Luis Gonzalez.
Said McGirt: “Big guys like that Bowe ate up; he ate their lunchbox, man.”

Murray maintains that not only would prime Holyfield beat Klitschko, today’s 48-year-old version might even give him a run for his money. He said, “Holyfield would give Klitschko the dirtiest fight of his life. He’d butt him, hit him in the nuts, hit him in every kind of place, and it would be a real, ugly vicious fight for him. Anyone who’s a big puncher and comes forward would give him trouble.”

Hall of Fame promoter and historian J Russell Peltz finds comparisons of fighters from different eras problematic but makes clear his opinion concerning Klitschko’s place in history.
“He’s not a top-10 heavyweight of all- time. What would he do with Sonny Liston pumping that jab at him, I mean the Sonny Liston from 1958-’62?” Peltz asked.
It’s a good question. There’s not a historian alive and worth quoting who doesn’t consider that version of Liston a mountain of heartache for any heavyweight in history, and the qualities that made him so are the ones that would serve one well against Klitschko: iron chin, a murderer’s temperament in the ring, sledgehammer hands, and above-average skills.

Peltz said too that the Tyson of 1988 would beat Klitschko and that Joe Frazier “would have a shot. He might have trouble the way he had trouble with [George] Foreman, but Foreman was a lot better than Klitschko.” Peltz cited another Philadelphia heavy weight, “Terrible” Tim Witherspoon, whose overhand right, impenetrable chin (forget the kayo loss to Bonecrusher Smith), and underrated skills might have been a nightmare for Klitschko. And as Peltz asked, “Who has Klitschko beaten that a prime Witherspoon wouldn’t have?” It’s conceivable too that a different type of heavyweight altogether would trouble Klitschko, one without the big punch and aggression. One who was a better version of Chris Byrd before there was a Chris Byrd, a guy who specialized in making big, strong guys like Klitschko look foolish.
“Jimmy Young knew how to fight more than most guys of that era; he just had no pop,” Peltz said. “If he could survive the bombs, he could beat just about anybody, he really could. Jimmy was raised against monsters, I mean the guys he sparred against in the gyms in Philadelphia. He certainly wouldn’t be intimidated by Klitschko, and he’d figure out a way to beat him.”

But Young isn’t around anymore. Same for Witherspoon, Tyson, Frazier, and Foreman. Ditto for Holmes and Ibeabuchi, Lis ton, Bowe, and even Holyfield, more or less. Tough guys each. Klitschko might have beaten them too. We can’t know for sure. And until one like them shows up again, Klitschko will remain The Man. You can’t blame him for that. He’s only doing what he’s supposed to do. Like him or not, he’s a fighter.

Williams Detloff - How Good Is Wladimir? The Ring Searches Recent History For The Answer, October 2011 issue of The Ring Magazine.