10 Critical Questions 08.15.08: The Return of Vitali Klitschko
Posted by Matt Knowles on 08.15.2008
What kind of shape will the former champ be in after nearly 4 years out of the ring? Can he find his timing? What type of game-plan should he implement against WBC champ Sam Peter? We look into these questions and more!
This fall on Showtime, former heavyweight title-holder Vitali Klitschko will return to the ring to challenge current WBC heavyweight champion Sam Peter in one of the season's most anticipated bouts. It has been nearly four years since the elder Klitschko has stepped foot into the squared circle, and quite a bit has changed in that timespan:
* Lennox Lewis officially retired in the Summer of 2004
* The WBC belt has gone from Hasim Rahman, to Oleg Maskaev, to Sam Peter
* Younger brother Wladimir Klitschko has scooped up the WBO/IBF/IBO title belts
* and sadly, John Ruiz is still in the WBA title mix
Now, we look forward to October 11, when Vitali will throw his name back into the heavyweight mix when he faces Peter for the sexy lime-green WBC strap that he once proudly wore back in 2004. When Vitali was an active fighter, there were always doubters, nay-sayers, and critics who were more than willing to take shots at Klitschko's abilities in the ring. Now that he's been out of action for the better part of 44 months, you can bet that those questions have multiplied….which brings us to our article!
Let's pick apart the multitude of questions surrounding the big man and his ring return….
1. What kind of physical shape will Vitali be in on October 11?
Back in '04, while he was training for a title defense against Hasim Rahman, Vitali pulled out of the fight with a serious back injury, and subsequently retired in order to pursue a career in politics. At that time, 99.999% of the boxing skeptics believed that this was Klitschko's way of avoiding Rahman, a power-punching former champ with a style that matched up perfectly to Klitschko's. I, myself, was one of Vitali's harshest critics (mostly because I was big Rock fan, but nevertheless, Vitali never fought Rahman).
Being that he left the sport for nearly four years, I think it's now safe to assume that the injuries were in fact legitimate, and that his body is now healed. This, however, leads us to the next factor of Vitali's conditioning. No road-work or sparring sessions can prepare a fighter for 12 rounds of fury with a puncher the likes of Sam Peter. So, from the physical health standpoint, Vitali should be ready to rock; being prepared for 36 minutes of fisticuffs may be another story.
2. Mentally and emotionally, what will his frame of mind be like?
Confidence and resolve have been an issue for Vitali in the past. His first pro loss was to Chris Byrd, where in an obscure twist of events, Klitschko ended up quitting on his stool due to an apparent shoulder injury. To the hard-core boxing fan, this was seen as more of a mental injury than a physical one; Vitali had a factor to deal with, and he couldn't deal with it, so he took the easy road and quit.
That being said, Klitschko's confidence seemed to soar in the first 3-4 rounds of his epic bout against Lennox Lewis, where he had the champ in trouble on a number of occasions. From that bout, Klitschko went on to destroy Kirk Johnson, Corrie Sanders, and Danny Williams. The Williams bout in December '04 was Vitali's last ring engagement, so one may think that his confidence hasn't faded since he left the sport off of a big win.
3. Will Klitschko's advanced age in this bout be a factor?
When he retired in '05, Klitschko was 34 years old; now, at 37, he must look to recapture his previous success by turning back the hands of time. Based on the fact that his only real back-and-forth brawls were against Lewis and Sanders, and because he isn't known for 15 round sparring sessions against top-flight competition during training, it's pretty safe to say that Klitschko has aged well, relatively speaking. I don't see this being a huge factor come October 11.
4. How will the four year layoff affect his timing?
Two of Vitali's greatest technical assets are his timing and his punching accuracy; even though he doesn't put a ton of steam into each shot, he is generally on the mark with both the left and right hand. His two-fisted fury against Corrie Sanders in the last two rounds of their heavyweight title bout was an absolute thing of beauty. Against Danny Williams, he landed combinations at will for ten straight rounds.
For all fighters on the comeback trail, this seems to be the decisive factor in their potential success. George Foreman was able to recapture his timing and accuracy to become a two time heavyweight champ at the ripe-old age of 45. Evander Holyfield has been on the hunt for his timing for nearly a decade now. As much as I'd like to pin-point how Vitali's accuracy and timing will look, it's not fair to make any predictions without seeing him inside the ring again; hopefully we'll get some behind-the-scenes training clips leading up to the bout.
5. How can Wladimir's Klitschko's performance against Peter be related to the Vitali-Peter showdown??
It's only natural to compare the success that Wladimir Klitschko had against Sam Peter with Vitali's chances of victory, since Vitali is now scheduled to face the same opponent; at the same time, this is where things get really tricky. Sam Peter lost a unanimous decision to Vitali's younger brother, Wladimir, a few years back. In that bout, Wladimir boxed circles around Peter at will, but ended up going down three times. By comparison to his little brother, Vitali has less refined boxing ability, but a better chin and more punching power. These factors being considered, it's basically a wash when trying to compare the Vitali-Peter match-up to the previous Wladimir-Peter bout.
6. What type of game-plan should Klitschko implement?
Based on Sam Peter's wide-angled punching trajectory, it would be safe to say that Klitschko should keep the fight at a long range distance. Guys like Maskaev and Jeremy Williams chose to go toe-to-toe with Peter, and got knocked out in the worst way. The quality and quantity of left jabs from Klitschko need to be at a maximum in order for him to attain any success in this bout. This ties in with question #4, in regards to his timing and accuracy. If the jab is on point, we may have a new WBC champ; if not, lights out!
7. Can Klitschko's face hold up?
In Vitali's most memorable bout, he went toe-to-toe with reigning champion Lennox Lewis until a massive cut over Vitali's eye was too much to fight through and the doctor stopped the bout. It was a gash that was so grotesque that it seemed as if his eye could very well just roll outta his head. Although it was pretty gory, it didn't become a recurring trend in Vitali's three subsequent bouts.
A major contributor to excessive swelling and cuts is weight loss; fighters like Arturo Gatti, who balloon up-and-down in weight are more susceptible to facial damage. Klitschko, from a purely visual perspective, has looked to be in good physical condition his entire life, including his retirement phase. From these notions, swelling and cuts should be a minimal factor in the bout.
8. Can either man hurt the other?
Very difficult question to answer. Although Vitali has two TKO losses on his resume, both were due to injuries. The only time he has even been remotely hurt was in rounds 4-6 against Lennox Lewis, who is one of the top 5-10 punchers in history. Sam Peter, meanwhile, had a life-and-death struggle against Jameel McCline about a year ago. In this bout, the light-hitting McCline floored Peter on a handful of occasions, leaving many question marks about his chin in the process.
I believe that Klitschko's cardio will be a contributing factor into finding an answer here. We still won't know how fit he is until fight night, and at that time, we'll have to keep an eye on how well he eats Peter's wide rights and lefts.
9. Will politics play any role in the outcome of the fight?
Boy, will they ever! Being that this bout is in Klitschko's adopted homeland of Germany, Sam Peter will need to score a multitude of knockdowns if he's even dreaming of earning a decision victory. Of course, both men are more prone to KO victories, so I don't see the scorecards playing a major role. This being said, Peter's game-plan may have to be adjusted in order to look for KO opportunities, which may leave him open for Klitschko's straight right hand. Only time will tell….
10. All of this being said, what are Klitschko's chances at victory?
Under the circumstances, not bad at all! You'd be hard-pressed to find another former champion, who has been out of action for nearly four years, that could simply jump back into the title hunt with no tune-ups and still have a legitimate chance of winning. Vitali Klitschko, despite all of the skepticism, is still a special athlete, and will have a number of physical and political advantages over Sam Peter on the 11th of October. Although I will stick with my original prediction of a late Sam Peter stoppage, I would not be shocked if Vitali, at the very least, won a handful rounds and scored a KD or 2. Regardless, we are finally in store for a big heavyweight title bout with plenty of potential for fireworks and excitement!
I don't think Vitali was avoiding Rahman. He would have KO'd the Rock the same way Lewis did in the rematch. Rahman was/is an average at best heavyweight who was fortunate enough to meet an undertrained, unmotivated Lewis in South Africa. Since then he hasn't beat a single top-level fighter.
Posted By: Denno (Guest) on August 15, 2008 at 05:16 AM
I tend to agree that if Klitschko's able to maintain himself in peak condition and his reflexes haven't deteriorated much, Klitschko has a fighting chance against Peter. I'm actually looking forward to it as I'm a much bigger fan of Vitali than I am of Wladimir. Vitali isn't as athletically gifted as Wladimir but he has a more exciting style, is more agressive and can take a punch.
Posted By: Ramon Aranda (Registered) on August 15, 2008 at 12:40 PM
I hope there is excitement!
Posted By: Kyle (Guest) on August 15, 2008 at 03:55 PM
I agree with Denno. I don't think Vitali had any reason to avoid Rahman. I think he'd have won easily - with the methodical jab, clinch, jab, straight right, etc. Despite the criticism he gets, I think Vitali has been greatly underrated. If he's 80% of what he was, he beats Peter handily, probably by KO. And I just can't see someone like him taking this fight if he's not up to the task physically. Peter will be giving up 7 inches in height and a lot of reach. He tends to punch wide, doesn't have a good jab, good defense, or - judging from the McCline fight - a particularly good chin. In other words, unless Vitali is a shell of his previous self, nothing favors Peter in this fight. I suspect he's gonna get a serious beat down.
Posted By: Zack (Guest) on August 16, 2008 at 03:00 AM
Just because Vitali didn't have a legitimate reason to avoid Rahman doesn't mean that he willfully found a way to not fight him. As absurd as it may seem, Vitali wanted no part of Rahman.
The promoters don't get it. They want Vitali to come back and be a champion so badly. They think that just because he was on his way to losing a high profile fight to Lennox Lewis that he's the superstar the heavyweight division needs.
Meanwhile, Sam Peter is a heavy handed, exciting fighter with a good chin that's actually learning how to box from fight to fight. What's his reward? They're doing everything they can to keep him in runaround matches and wastes of time that he doesn't need to be bothered with.
I hope he absolutely pastes Vitali and gets the proper reward for it.
Posted By: DaFranchise (Registered) on August 16, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Personally I would rather see a unified belt. Wladimir is a better fighter than most would give him, yet he lacks the BIG fight/feud that defines the greats. I like vitali but I would be interested only if his title victory led to klitschko vs klitschko. The heavy weight division needs this to happen
Posted By: Lucas Mucus (Guest) on August 16, 2008 at 06:27 PM
