19 Years Later, Wladimir Klitschko Still Going Strong

Published

9 years ago

November 26, 2015

Nobody could have known it then, but heavyweight boxing’s most comprehensive dynasty began on Nov. 16, 1996, when the Klitschko brothers made their pro debuts on the same card. Vitali knocked out Tony Bradham in two rounds in Hamburg, Germany, and Wladimir, the 1996 super heavyweight gold medalist at the Atlanta Olympics, needed just one round to blast out Fabian Meza.

And while the odds are against it, that dynasty could go on for … well, let’s just say it has to end at some point, but maybe not for several years.

In April 2014, only a month after his 38th birthday, long-reigning champion Wladimir figured he was positioned to sit on the throne for another decade. “I just turned 38, but that’s only a number,” he said. “I am still extremely hungry and better than ever. A few years ago I thought I couldn’t improve, but my mission is still a long way from over. I want to box for 10 more years.”

A lot of heavyweights have come and gone waiting for Wladimir – and before him, older brother Vitali – to succumb to the inevitable toll of the aging process, either through defeat in the ring or retirement. And while Vitali, now 44, did officially take his leave from the punch-for-pay ranks in 2013, due in part to recurring injuries and more so to his desire to help his homeland of Ukraine (he assumed the office of mayor of Kiev on June 5, 2014), Wladimir continues to inexorably roll along like waves on the Black Sea.

The latest upstart to forecast a screeching halt to Wlad’s seemingly endless reign of terror is British big man (6-foot-9 and 260 pounds) Tyson Fury, 27, who if nothing else might have the niftiest birth name ever given to someone who would grow up to become a heavyweight boxer.

If verbal putdowns were as damaging as a jolting shot to the jaw, the 39-year-old Wlad (64-3, 53 KOs), who holds the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring and lineal titles, might be in deep trouble in Saturday night’s scheduled 12-rounder at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany. Fury (24-0, 18 KOs), a 5-1 underdog, at various times has suggested that the 6-6, 245-pound champion is a doddering geriatric who probably never was all that good to begin with.

“I will make him look like an idiot,” Fury said to ESPN.co.uk. “I will humiliate him before stopping him. I’m not going to (win on) points, I’m going to stop him.”

There are precedents for Fury’s boastful prediction. Wlad has made early exits twice – in two rounds by Corrie Sanders on March 8, 2003, and in five rounds by Lamon Brewster on April 10, 2004. He also was floored three times by Samuel Peter on Sept. 24, 2005, but still went on to win by unanimous decision.

Since his loss to Brewster (which he later avenged on a sixth-round stoppage), Wlad is 22-0 with 15 knockouts, 18 of those victories in title bouts. When you factor in his first championship reign in the WBO, the younger of the brothers Klitschko is 25-2 with 19 KOs in fights when a world title belt was on the line. Vitali (45-2, 41 KOs) was only slightly less durable over the long haul, going 16-2 with 13 wins inside the distance in championship bouts.

All in all, the Klitschkos are a combined 41-4 with 32 KOs in title fights over four title reigns totaling 22 years, 8 months. It is an incredible run, certainly unsurpassed by siblings in boxing and matched or surpassed in all of sports only by tennis’ Williams sisters, with Serena (21) and Venus (7) combining for 28 victories in Grand Slam events. Oh, some smart aleck might forward the candidacy of the Aaron brothers, who hold the Major League Baseball record for most combined home runs (768), but that is misleading as Hank smacked 755 of them.

Since that rather inauspicious day in Hamburg 19 years ago, it can be said that the only real competition the Klitschkos have had in the heavyweight division – seeing as how they came along when the careers of Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson were winding down — has been each other. It would have been a global attraction had they fought one another for the championship of the world and their family, but they promised their mother that such a fight would never take place, and it didn’t. Feel free to speculate as to how that one would have turned out; a lot of people have.

Skeptics, of course, will point out that the Klitschkos’ long period of domination is at least partly the result of a watered-down heavyweight division. It’s an assertion that’s difficult to dispute, with none of the preceding Big Five (Lewis, Holyfield, Tyson, Riddick Bowe and George Foreman) ever facing Wladimir, and Vitali only going against one, losing by stoppage in six rounds to WBC champion Lewis on June 21, 2003, in what would prove to be “Double L’s” final bout. It should be noted, however, that Vitali was leading 58-56 on all three official scorecards when the end came on the advice of the ring physician, with Vitali bleeding badly from deep cuts around his eyes.

For those inclined to go even further back to play the what-if game, you have to wonder how the Klitschkos would fare if they were dropped into the mix in the mid-1960s through the 1970s, when a golden era of heavyweights was graced by Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston, Foreman, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes and even slightly lesser lights like Earnie Shavers, Jerry Quarry and Ron Lyle.

But all any fighter can do is go against the best available opponents in his era, and the Klitschkos have done just that. There is one voice, though, that reverberates from beyond the grave to place Wlad on a very lofty pedestal.

“For one-punch power, Wladimir tops them all,” Wlad’s now-deceased Hall of Fame trainer, Emanuel Steward, said before Klitschko’s rematch with Samuel Peter in 2010. “If he ever becomes more aggressive and just went after people, he could be the most devastating heavyweight puncher ever.”

Wlad, now trained by Steward protégé Johnathon Banks, remains an energy source disinclined to go to full voltage. He is patient, almost to a fault, waiting for the just the right opening to let fly and frequently clinching when the other guy attempts to work in close. In America, they call such a style kind of boring; in Europe, where Wlad has appeared in 16 of his last 18 bouts, it sells out soccer stadiums. Promoters are expecting a crowd approaching 60,000 for his showdown with Fury, one of the few fighters to hold height, reach and weight advantages over the Ukrainian.

“I believe Wladimir’s quite nervous about this fight,” Fury surmised. “It’s a big uphill fight for him. He’s getting on a bit, and I’m the tallest opponent he’s ever faced. You just have to wonder what he’s going to be told when he goes back to his corner and he can’t land his shots or he’s being caught more than he’s ever been caught. I believe I’ll hit Wladimir more times than he’s ever been hit before purely due to my size, athleticism and speed.”

It should be noted, however, that Fury knows what it’s like to be floored by a smaller man, having gone down in the second round of his April 20, 2013, fight with two-time former cruiserweight champ Steve Cunningham, who was giving away six inches in height and 44 pounds to the native of Manchester, England. For all his massive size, Fury does not pack the one-punch putaway power of Klitschko; if he gets nailed the way he did against Cunningham, it’s a fairly safe bet he won’t beat the count.

Fury isn’t the first fighter to attempt to irritate the implacable Wlad with brash words, and he probably won’t be the last. The well-faded (and 43-year-old) Shannon Briggs, a former WBO heavyweight champion who lost a unanimous decision to Vitali for the WBC belt on Oct. 16, 2010, has tried every trick in the book to get a rise out of Wlad in recent months, including showing up uninvited at a Miami restaurant and eating food off his plate in September.

Compared to Briggs’ semi-deranged antics, Fury’s putdowns aren’t causing much consternation to Wlad or his support team. They’ve heard it all before.

“He’s talking the talk,” a dismissive Banks said of Fury’s nonstop goading. “I honestly think he’s talking like this to get under Wladimir’s skin. Is it good for him? I don’t know. Will it be bad for him in the fight? Yeah, it will.”

If King Klitschko isn’t toppled by Fury, who then? Rangy American Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs), who holds the WBC belt once worn so long and well by Vitali? Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs), the 26-year-old Englishman who took the super heavyweight gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics? Either would be an underdog to Wlad, but then so would every other heavyweight at this time.

Regardless of what happens going forward, Wlad – and Vitali, for that matter – are mortal-lock, first-ballot inductees into the International Boxing Hall of Fame when they become eligible. Wlad already has entered the realm of heavyweight history; his defense against Fury will be his 25th fight as a reigning champion, 23 of which were victories. The legendary Joe Louis made 25 successful defenses (a record for all weight divisions) over his 12-year, 3-month reign, which was interrupted by World War II, and Larry Holmes retained the crown for 20 winning defenses over seven years.

It doesn’t seem likely that Wlad can keep going for another eight or nine years, but, given the current landscape, who’s to say he can’t?

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Bernard Fernandez

Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

3 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

3 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More

Published

5 days ago

March 28, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-319-Rematches-in-Las-Vegas-Cancun-and-More

Rematches are the bedrock for prizefighting.

Return battles between rival boxers always means their first encounter was riveting and successful at the box office.

Six months after their first brutal battle Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) will slug it out again for the WBO welterweight world title this time on Saturday, March 29, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

ESPN will show the Top Rank card live.

“It’s important for women’s boxing to have these rivalries and this is definitely up there as one of the top ones,” Mayer told the BBC.

If you follow Mayer’s career you know that somehow drama follows. Whether its back-and-forth beefs with fellow American fighters or controversial judging due to nationalism in countries abroad. The Southern California native who now trains in Las Vegas knows how to create the drama.

For female fighters self-promotion is a necessity.

Most boxing promoters refuse to step out of the usual process set for male boxers, not for female boxers. Things remain the same and have been for the last 70 years. Social media has brought changes but that has made promoters do even less.

No longer are there press conferences, instead announcements are made on social media to be drowned among the billions of other posts. It is not killing but diluting interest in the sport.

Women innately present a different advantage that few if any promoters are recognizing. So far in the past 25 years I have only seen two or three promoters actually ignite interest in female fighters. They saw the advantages and properly boosted interest in the women.

The fight breakdown

Mayer has won world titles in the super featherweight and now the welterweight division. Those are two vastly different weight classes and prove her fighting abilities are based on skill not power or size.

Coaching Mayer since amateurs remains Al Mitchell and now Kofi Jantuah who replaced Kay Koroma the current trainer for Sandy Ryan.

That was the reason drama ignited during their first battle. Then came someone tossing paint at Ryan the day of their first fight.

More drama.

During their first fight both battled to control the initiative with Mayer out-punching the British fighter by a slender margin. It was a back-and-forth struggle with each absorbing blows and retaliating immediately.

New York City got its money’s worth.

Ryan had risen to the elite level rapidly since losing to Erica Farias three years ago. Though she was physically bigger and younger, she was out-maneuvered and defeated by the wily veteran from Argentina. In the rematch, however, Ryan made adjustments and won convincingly.

Can she make adjustments from her defeat to Mayer?

“I wanted the rematch straight away,” said Ryan on social media. “I’ve come to America again.”

Both fighters have size and reach. In their first clash it was evident that conditioning was not a concern as blows were fired nonstop in bunches. Mayer had the number of punches landed advantage and it unfolded with the judges giving her a majority decision win.

That was six months ago. Can she repeat the outcome?

Mayer has always had boiler-oven intensity. It’s not fake. Since her amateur days the slender Southern California blonde changes disposition all the way to red when lacing up the gloves. It’s something that can’t be taught.

Can she draw enough of that fire out again?

“I didn’t have to give her this rematch. I could have just sat it out, waited for Lauren Price to unify and fought for undisputed or faced someone else,” said Mayer to BBC. “That’s not the fighter I am though.”

Co-Main in Las Vegas

The co-main event pits Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) facing Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) in a contest for the WBO welterweight title.

Norman, 24, was last seen a year ago dissecting a very good welterweight in Giovani Santillan for a knockout win in San Diego. He showed speed, skill and power in defeating Santillan in his hometown.

Cuevas has beaten some solid veteran talent but this will be his big test against Norman and his first attempt at winning a world title.

Also on the Top Rank card will be Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Emiliano Vargas, the son of Fernando Vargas, in separate bouts.

Golden Boy in Cancun

A rematch between undefeated William “Camaron” Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) and ex-champ Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) headlines the lightweight match on Saturday March 29, at Cancun, Mexico.

In their first encounter Zepeda was knocked down in the fourth round but rallied to win a split-decision over Farmer. It showed the flaws in Zepeda’s tornado style.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also includes a clash between Yokasta Valle the WBC minimumweight world titlist who is moving up to flyweight to face former flyweight champion Marlen Esparza.

Both Valle and Esparza have fast hands.

Valle is excellent darting in and out while Esparza has learned how to fight inside. It’s a toss-up fight.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 12 p.m. Cameron Vuong (7-0) vs Jordan Flynn (11-0-1); Pat Brown (0-0) vs Federico Grandone (7-4-2).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. William Zepeda (32-0) vs Tevin Farmer (33-7-1); Yokasta Valle (32-3) vs Marlen Esparza (15-2).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Mikaela Mayer (20-2) vs Sandy Ryan (7-2-1); Brian Norman Jr. (26-0) vs Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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