Vitali Klitschko: The All Hype Champion

By Phenyo Molefe

We should brace ourselves for the so called champion and his troop leader Shelly Finkel who comes armed with an optimistic well of lies and constructed half-truths. It is with great shame that I look upon these fabricated accounts with which certain individuals persistently try use to lead us astray. Surely this is not the manner in which these individuals should go about in their futile attempts to create a foundation for some form of perverted legacy.

I don’t know if I should choose to take offence at the ill disposed views shared by this camp or perhaps I should smile at the imprudence exhibited. I just read an account in which Shelly blatantly tries to cast blame upon Don King. I am neither a supporter of King nor some of his most creative works, in actual fact I probably stand on the other side of the fence as one of his staunchest detractors. I harbor a greater level of contempt than that of admiration, however we shall leave that agenda for the foreseen future. In light of this case under study I have to give Donald King the benefit of the doubt, as I cannot see a means in which he extended his tentacles in the surfacing of the countless duck and dive tactics exhibited by the Klitschko camp.

I assume that most of you have been acquainted with the attempts of redemption pioneered by Camp Klitschko, which have been plastered across various forms of media. It has been alleged that Vitali does not fear Rahman. Well, all of that is fine with me however don’t you all think that the time has long been overdue for team Klitschko to secure the bout that we the boxing public have sought. However, instead of pursuit we witnessed acts suggesting Camp Klitschko were fleeing from Rahman.

Finkel has drawn our attention to Rahman’s last six fights in some effort to try and change our perception of Rahman’s status as a legitimate challenger for the WBC belt. I stand not as an attorney for Camp Rahman and therefore I will attempt to discuss this specific question in some objective light. Finkel has got some form of credibility in his statement; out of Rahman’s last six opponents, very few have had substantial credibility.

Now lets turn our attention to the motives in choice of the so-called dubious opponents. On Dec 13, 2003, Rahman lost a 12 round unanimous decision to John Ruiz, prior to that he was served with a loss to Holyfield and in between those two fights he lost a rather controversial points decision to David Tua. Shelly Finkel has been involved in the fighting business for over 14 years yet some of his comments betray his experience on occasion. He should know better than most of us, that at times people neglect the importance of mental prowess and status in the science of boxing. Irrespective of how talented or brilliant you may perceive yourself to be if you do not posses the required confidence you are going to have a great degree of challenges when you face an opponent who seemingly sustains your fury. Rahman was undoubtedly on a mental low point after the Ruiz fight and any well established adviser would advise him to regain his confidence in a progressive manner and keep busy.

It would defy all logic if a fighter who is travelling a confidence leeching run to attempt to hit out at the top tier of the division; probability would state that he would most likely prolong the very confidence drain which posses him at that current stage because a loss would be highly likely outcome. Therefore with good reason this is the exact pathway Camp Rahman embarked upon in his minor journey not only restoring his confidence but re-establish his status as a contender. Their pattern obviously depicted the very logical steps of progression as the skill and status of the opposition increased with every bout. I don’t think it requires a master’s degree for anyone to decipher the credibility of this strategy. I am beginning to think that George Foreman was correct in his analysis of Finkel’s ability as a boxing adviser especially in his relations with Michael Tyson. Something that is common practice seems to be so foreign to Shelly when it does not seem to suit him; I merely smile and allow you the room to solve that mystery.

Seeing that Finkel has drawn our attention to past fights, let us now divert our investigation to the last six fights of the fighter he represents. I make mention of Ross Puritty, Vaughn Bean, Larry Donald yet I do not seem to see any form of highly credible opponents. Finally a blessing came along the way, owing to Kirk Johnson pulling out of his scheduled bout with Lennox Lewis, Vitali took the bout against Lewis at short notice and fought well for most part of that bout against a badly conditioned Lewis; However this is the fight game and we make no excuses for anyone, even the champ. Even though he lost the fight due to a ghastly cut, Vitali won over a lot of fans and respect with the fighting spirit he displayed that evening. He later fought Kirk Johnson, an injured Corrie Sanders and podgy Danny Williams. Yes folks the very same Danny Williams whose victory over an injured and stretched Michael Tyson mysteriously gave him a title shot. Lets look two weeks back; this is the Danny Williams who recently called in sick a day prior to his bout with national rival Matt Skeleton (Looks like someone has caught the very infection that seems to have troubled Camp Klitschko this year.).

His first defense against Rahman was scheduled earlier this year in April, which was later postponed to June, then July, the reasons provided for postponements have been somewhat unconvincing. In recent months we have heard Camp Klitschko call out Brewster, Toney, Maskaev and Calvin Brock, but not Rahman, who does even need a call up for he is the mandatory challenger and has been waiting his turn for quite sometime. The boxing public probably began to doubt that this fight would take place.

Vitali surprises me in his ability to construct partial truths on solid facts, which have been inverted. I think Dr. Iron Fist has fulfilled his argument in a bid to undermine rumors that contradict his and Shelly’s recent statements and his argument is flawed giving further substance to the alleged rumors. I pose a question, if Vitali is so brave and confident in his ability to fight Rahman why did the boxing public have to wait upon the WBC to intervene and force in some order in what had become a situation spiraling out of control in a pit of disarray? I tell you this dear fight fans had the WBC ruled in Vitali’s favor then we would never see Vitali fight the mandatory challenger but rather another tomato can for the year of 2005 (I cannot rule out the fact that team Klitschko may have been tempted to short-list Kevin McBride as a possible option.). In my opinion Vitali should have stepped up to his duties and quit his pathetic frolics a long time ago; do they try to insult our intelligence, of course we can see what is going on here. This man and his camp have no respect for our sport or the division. If you are crowed champion even in a depleted division, then you hold your head up high and fulfil the role of a champion and relinquish the pursuit of roles inspired by cowardice. I have no care of statements about fears and confidence I want to see the champions in the ring fighting and proving their worth.

I seek not to dispel Vitali’s status in the heavyweight division for his actions speak for him. In light of my criticism of Vitali’s sin against the division, I will admit that he alone does not lie at fault, I can readily mention highly talented IBF champion Chris Byrd for masterful ducking practices and I sometimes question why some writers continue cast him as the division’s best fighter. However let us not get distracted, for Byrd will be the subject of debate on another day.

Vitali drew attention by launching statements after the WBC ruling less than 10 days ago and thus I found it most compelling to address these tales released by Camp Klitschko in an attempt to remind you of what we have been subjected to for the better part of this year. This has been the year of almost every division but the heavyweight division; we have seen the Wright-Trinidad bout, Corrales-Castillo’s slugfest, Tszyu-Hatton bringing some heat, blistering excitement from the Mayweather Jr-Gatti and let us not forget the Hopkins-Taylor clash. Do you want to know what the recurrent element in these gentlemen has been, courage. In all these fights the champions assumed risks in meeting their respective challengers, they did not shy away but sought to further solidify their legacies and honour our sport.

The late world-renowned trainer Cus D’Amato is quoted as saying: "The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It's the same thing, fear, but it's what you do with it that matters." I am of the opnion that you don’t need me to assist you in deriving your own conclusions regarding this case, the facts stand before you a "champion" exposed. . If anyone truly wants to dismiss my analysis of how events have unfolded then I respectfully dare you to do so for I see only one truth, the very truth which Vitali has lent his hand to: He is no more than than an instrument of great hype.