When heavyweight boxing champion, Wladimir Klitschko told fightnews.com to not call him a legend in a recent interview regarding his upcoming bout with Alexander Povetkin a lot of people seemed to agree with him. And have done so for a very long time. I do not doubt these people would also agree that Vitali Klitschko does not deserve to be ranked up there with the all time heavyweight greats of boxing. But why not? Because they are “boring” to watch? Because they fought less than stellar opposition? Are those reasons good enough to never consider the possibility that they can never be considered to honestly compete in any era, therefore lifting them to legendary status? I have to disagree.
Wladimir Klitschko is a very active heavyweight champion, no doubt because these days he barely gets hit on the chin. Not really since legendary trainer Emanuel Steward reconfigured the structure of his fighting style. Steward equipped him with a jab and a right hand that today’s challengers hopelessly try to overcome, but to no avail. The cries of “he’s boring” and that his fights are powerful enough to cure a bout of insomnia are heavily reminiscent of the days when Lennox Lewis was fighting. When he hung up the gloves those complaints switched from insults to compliments when nearly every fan realised that they were in for more of the same from the Klitschko brothers. These days there are ‘Fantasy Fight’ discussions involving Lewis with other great heavyweights of the past, telling me that those same people surely regard Lewis as worthy of Hall of Fame and legendary status despite slinging harsh words his way when he was active. Another reason the fans at present refuse to see the Klitschko’s as future legends is that they fought in a weak era. Does that reason hold water? Not for me. Any well informed fan knows that Rocky Marciano and even Mike Tyson fought in so called “weak eras.” I am sure that a counter argument would be “but Tyson dispatched those guys quickly and in exciting fashion.” Which brings us back to the “boredom” factor once again.
Wladimir was gracious enough to tell fightnews.com not to refer to him as a boxing legend….”not yet.” This tells me that he must feel that he has a lot left to offer the sport and that he has some unfinished business to accomplish past Povetkin. The thought that seems pleasant enough to others that when the Klitschko brothers retire that the division will become more competitive is okay. Until boredom sets in and then one wants unity and a champion strong enough to keep the division clear. Well, nobody can say that the Ukrainian champions are not doing their job in that regard!
The one thing that is missing in boxing when we fire our criticisms and judgement at fighters is consistency!
Whether you are ready for this now or not, you will have to get ready for the day when you will have to conveniently forget those criticisms aimed at the Klitschko brothers when they were active, replaced by more pleasant words.
So pleasant that they will elevate them to status of ‘Legend.’
