When watching this fight I found myself routing for Wladimir Klitschko to win, which is something I don’t normally do. Why? It’s not because, I don’t like him. Quite the opposite infact. Outside of the ring I think he is a genuinely nice guy, and inside the ring I think he is a great boxer. His bread and butter is fighting on the outside and utilising a fast, powerful left jab followed quickly by a hard right hand. However, what I dislike is the fact his style is so cautious, and he is seemingly lacking that killer instinct. When he fought Tony Thompson, he had dominated the fight from the outside, and must have jabbed Tony more than a 100 times in the head. Tony was ready to go, his spirit was broken and he wanted out. Wladimir however still played it cautiously and couldn’t finish Tony, until he eventually dropped to the canvas. He didn’t get up more because he had lost the will to continue more than being hurt.
So why was I backing Wladimir this time? Well it’s because the outcome of this fight depended on the potential Haye vs Klitschko match in 2009! Hashim Rahman is known as being a dangerous fighter. Indeed, it was he that caused a massive upset many years ago when he knocked out Lennox Lewis in Africa. However I was watching the same Rahman in this fight. At first I thought he maybe had a plan, keeping low and looking to counter Wladimir’s jab. Unfortunately he was just too slow, and was so static in all his movements that he was basically target practice the whole evening.
Much like the Tony Thompson fight, although Rahman was hurt Wladimir seemed unable to finish the fight. He was still relying on his trusty jabs and right hands instead of throwing hooks and uppercuts on the inside to finish his opponent off. David Haye was present at the fight, and described the fight as “unspectacular”, and said that Wladimir did his usual trick of “jabbing opponents until the fall asleep”. Although this statement rings true, what was evident in the fight is that Wladimir is a very good fighter against the right opponent. Haye on the other hand will provide a very different challenge should they meet up in 2009, although I think a better fight might be with Vitali which is a very real possibility. Let’s see what happens…
Author:
admin
Posted in: Boxing News
Tags: David Haye, hashim rahman, tony thompson, wladimir klitschko
