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Jack Welsh on Boxing
LEWIS FINDS KLITSCHKO 'CUT' ABOVE RIVALS
Lennox Lewis, struggling from the first bell, quickly
realized Vitali Klitschko was more than a cut above most rivals.
As it rurned out it, that's just what the WBC/IBO heavyweight champion
needed in this brawl of behemoths to thwart a stunning upset before
15,936 screamers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Lewis 256.5 lbs. of London, trailed on all three judges
scorecards after six rounds. Klitschko, 248, a Ukraine import, was
making a bold bid for the crowns, delivering offensively far more
than he got from the 37-year-old Lewis.
It was Lewis' first outing since he annihilated Mike
Tyson in eight rounds 54 weeks ago in Memphis but he wasn't a facsimile
of that champion at any juncture in this shaky victory. More like
being one of this planet's luckiest inhabitants with Klitschko's
badly cut left eye worsened, forcing referee Lou Moret to effect
a six-round technical knockout.
Rarely have bigger men clashed for the sport's most
coveted award, Lewis at 6'5" with Klitschko in at 6'7"
in what nobody expected would be arguably the most exciting heavyweight
pairing since the Evander Holyield-Riddick Bowe trilogy. Klitschko
won the crowd's favor from the outset, but it's hard to imagine
two boxers this size fighting out of clinches 27 times without a
head butt not occuring. This exercise was Lewis' highest on the
scales in 14 professional years.
For the sluggish Lewis, it was an uphill battle to regain
his punching rhythm while Klitschko's handiwork curried the judges'
favor for points with Pat Russell, James Jen-Bin, and Tom Kaszmarek
all voting 58-56. Boxing Insider had the same tab for Klitschko.
Going into Southern California's first heavy- weight
title match since 1958 when Floyd Patterson kayoed Roy Harris, neither
gladiator was lauded as speed merchants, but the undaunted Klitschko
set the tempo with his early combinations, Emanuel Steward, the
champ's trainer, demanding Lewis 'take it to him like you did Tyson.'
Early in round three, Lewis responded with a single
overhand right.It wasn't like the right that chilled Hasim Rahman
in 2001 to get his titles back but mean enough to inflict a deep
and wide gash over Klitschko's left eye. Blood spurted over the
lid and down the former WBO champion's face but Klitschko hung tough,
still catching Lewis wth consistent left jabs.
Joe Souza, in Klitschko's corner, showed why he is considered
one of the best cutmen in the country when he kept the wound clean,
minimizing the blood flow in the fourth and fifth rounds. Klitschko
never stopped pressuring the champion and continued to counter effectively
in the exchanges.
Klitschko, who holds a doctorate in sports science from
Kiev University, was a 5-1 underdog and proved once and for all
there is no China in his chin. He sponged up Lewis' biggest bombs
and there were no no knockdowns although Vitali appeared to wobble
the off-balanced U.K.superstar in the first two rounds.
Lewis, trying not to lose his titles for the third time
since turning pro in 1989, would never admit he was behind on points,
but in desperation in the sixth round, he snapped the iron-jawed
challenger's head back with two huge right uppercuts. Vitali remained
erect and countering but the terrific impact on the cut eye was
the beginning of the end.
The California State Athletic Commission had Dr. Paul
Wallace, a plastic surgeon, working ringside and a good move too
although Klitschko ultimately would not approve his presence. Dr.
Wallace inspected the eye cut after the third round and did not
return until after the sixth round.
'When I told referee Lou Moret to not let the seventh
round start, it wasn't because of the bleed ing.There was a significance
difference from the first time I examined the cut. Because of the
laceration, the lid was hanging in such a way that Vitali was not
able to defend himself,' Dr.Wlalace explained.
'I asked Vitali to look at me and when he lifted his
head, the eyelid covered his field of vision. He had to move his
head to see me. There was no way he could defend himself. If he
got hit with an overhand right, he might not be able to see it.
It was a dangerous situation.'
Klitschko, whose resume dipped to 32-2, 31 KOs, was
irate when he learned the referee had been ordered to stop the fight,
still sitting on his corner stool.
'I can see very well, that's no problem. I saw every
punch and I was well prepared for this fight. worked very hard and
I know Lennox Lewis wasn't in top shape. He never hurt me once but
he acted like a fighter who felt my right hand. I took every one
of his jabs. I showed everybody I can fight Lennox Lewis.I showed
every who I am,' said the erudite heavyweight who speaks four languages
and now lives in Los Angeles.
'Lennox was heavy and I could see he was tired.I now
his conditioning was not great. My main strategy was to win this
fight in the later rounds and it was working perfectly. This was
just one unlucky fight and one unlucky punch.I won this fight and
I beat Lewis on points.I want a rematch and I'm sure thepublic wants
to see it again.'
Lewis, obsessed wtth the legacy he will leave in boxing.,
did not respond to HBO's Larry Merchant reminding 'three judges
had you behind on points,' but he was otherwise talkative, if not
to gracious.
'There was no way he was going the distance. Just look
at Klitschko's face...he was deteriorating anyway.I would have knocked
him out in the next couple of rounds. He doesn't have the skills
to compete with me but he gave me a wake up call in the second round.
But I was just getting my second wind,' said the champion whose
ledger moved to 41-2-1, 32 KOs.
'Klitschko is the WBC's No.1 contender and he was just
as slow as i thought he would be. He's a strong fighter but I was
going to close the show as quick as possible. He wouldn't have finished
on his feet. He has an unusual European style and I do give him
credit for sticking with me and making it a good fight. Lennox Lewis
is still the best, but bring on the rest. I'll fight Vitali again
in a rematch. He can bring on his brother,Wladimir, too and I'll
eat them both for lunch.'
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