Klitschko's legacy rests on beating Haye
Wladimir Klitschko holds what once was considered the most prestigious title in sports, yet nearly 15 years after he began his professional career, the extent of his abilities remains largely unknown on the eve of the biggest fight of his life.
There are more unanswered questions about the reigning 35-year-old heavyweight champion than any other major figure in the sport has faced at a similar career stage.
To borrow a phrase from one-time Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green, is Klitschko who we think he is? He's blowing out those whom he should blow out, but until he proves he can perform the same way against high-caliber opposition, his ability will always be questioned and his place in history will remain suspect.
Put aside for a moment the 55 victories and the 49 knockouts in his 58 fights. Forget the 16-2 record he's fashioned in world-title bouts. Ignore, if you will, the five-plus-year winning streak he has put together and ask yourself this one simple question:
What is Wladimir Klitschko's most notable victory?
It will be an easy question to answer by week's end, if Klitschko manages to defeat trash-talking Briton David Haye when they meet Saturday in Hamburg, Germany, for heavyweight supremacy.
Haye is, by far, Klitschko's greatest challenge, though Haye's heavyweight ré sumé is rather skimpy in its own right. Though Haye has trash talked to epic proportions, making even James Toney seem timid by comparison, the pressure in this fight is all on Klitschko. He absolutely must prevail if he wants to be known as anything other than the best man in the worst era in heavyweight boxing history.
It's clearly not his fault, but Klitschko's list of title challengers is laughably inept. He was a heavy favorite to win each of his 58 professional bouts. Few of his opponents have gone on to accomplish much after facing him.
There are kids walking to school who have faced tougher competition scrapping with the neighborhood bully over their lunch money.
Haye could be the foil Klitschko has long sought and never has found. He's 6-feet-3 with the best combination of speed and power that Klitschko has faced. If Klitschko leaves his chin exposed, Haye unquestionably has the power to take advantage and take him out.
Klitschko has faced good punchers before – Corrie Sanders, who knocked him out in the second round in 2003, was one of the hardest hitters of his time – and he's faced guys with quickness.
He never, though, has faced anyone who had both qualities in the kind of abundance that Haye does. Rarely has a Klitschko opponent been good enough to actually fight back and make a match of it. He has slowly ground them into submission, racking up wins – but without building much of a legacy.
The greatest champions perform their best in their biggest fights and if Klitschko is as good as he's seemed, he should be able to convincingly handle Haye. Klitschko has beaten most of the C-leaguers he's faced in the last five years simply by keeping his jab pumping, but he'll need more than just a jab to overcome Haye.
Klitschko has fought extremely conservatively in most of his outings and more as if he were trying to guard his chin than if he were going out to make a statement and win a fight impressively.
Trainer Emanuel Steward has done a masterful job of rebuilding his career after the dark 14-month span in 2003-04, when Klitschko was knocked out twice in four fights and looked as if he were daintier than the plates in Mom's china cabinet.
Steward has Klitschko using his jab and fighting tall, keeping the chin as far away and as well-protected as possible.
His confidence has grown with each fight under Steward and he now gives the outward signs of supreme belief in himself.
That's fueled, though, by years of facing substandard opposition. He's fought the guys he's had to face, but there were no major challenges available to him before now. Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield were long past their primes when Klitschko was in position to fight them, and they never met. Lennox Lewis chose not to fight him and retired in 2003 after an excellent slugfest with Klitschko's older brother, Vitali.
Though Haye has much to prove as a heavyweight himself, he's clearly an elite talent who dominated the cruiserweight division. He made the jump to heavyweight after knocking out Enzo Maccarinelli to claim three of the four cruiserweight belts on March 8, 2008, and has gone 4-0 while awaiting a turn against one of the Klitschko brothers.
That turn comes Saturday, and all eyes will be on Wladimir Klitschko. Muhammad Ali had Joe Frazier and George Foreman. Sugar Ray Leonard had Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
Klitschko has had the likes of Ray Austin and Hasim Rahman, so there really hasn't been an acceptable foil. He needs the high-quality opponent to convince a skeptical public that he would have been competitive in any era.
The elite fighters prove time and again they can deal with adversity, but Klitschko has rarely faced it. The one time in his career he faced true adversity and won was in 2005, when he pulled himself up three times after being floored by Sam Peter and went on to win. But in every previous instance when the deck wasn't stacked totally in his favor, Klitschko couldn't handle the heat and melted.
His conditioning failed him in a 1998 loss to journeyman Ross Puritty. He seemed to mentally break in a 2004 defeat to Lamon Brewster. After that bout, he sued the Nevada Athletic Commission in a ludicrous suit that went nowhere in which he alleged that he had somehow been poisoned.
All of that will be behind him, though, if he handles Haye.
Strange as it may seem at this point of his career, Saturday's match is a proving ground for Klitschko. It's his 59th fight and his 19th world championship bout, but this may be the match where we learn what Wladimir Klitschko is really all about.
