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Impending heavyweight clash prompts three-decade reflection
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By Lyle Fitzsimmons,
Contributing Boxing Editor
Ocala, FL (Sports Network) - It's a great week to be an optimist.
And while the lovely Danielle would insist my normal bent is too far in the other direction, it's at times like these in boxing that I tend to think otherwise.
After all, if Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye can get together and get a fight scheduled -- which seemed nearly impossible for a good part of the last 18 months -- maybe a couple of famous welterweights can find their way to a dual press conference one of these years, too.
I'll go on record saying it happens within the next 12 months.
But whether it does or doesn't, that's a chat for another time.
This week is about the heavyweights.
Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye.
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Needless to say, a fight between big men on this level -- 80 wins in 84 fights, four titles on the line -- doesn't come along often. And no matter how aesthetically pleasing a 12-rounder between sublime flyweights might be to some, give me a marquee match between 200-plus pounders any day.
So as the wife, the three-year-old and I tooled up I-75 on Monday afternoon to conclude another weekend in Gulf-side paradise, my mind wandered back to the heavyweight title bouts that have committed themselves to my memory since I became a conscious fan in the late 1970s.
By the time we got back home I'd scribbled 15 into the notes function on my cell phone, all of which I could recap on a round-by-round basis on demand if needed -- but didn't, in the hopes of not dulling my travel partners into a collective walking coma.
Instead, I'll lay mine out here... to trigger a few of yours on a Tuesday fight-week morning.
NOTE: Lest it be branded moronic for notable omissions -- Douglas-Tyson, for example -- the listed fights are only those I saw in real time, either on site or on television. Like at least a few others in 1990, I eschewed that Saturday walkover in Tokyo for an ultimately less-memorable night of 20-something hi- jinks. If he ends up a writer like the old man, I hope little Ryan has a little more foresight.
Leon Spinks W 15 Muhammad Ali (February 15, 1978): The great unveiling for a wide-eyed eight-year-old fan, given permission that night to stay up alongside dad and watch the Olympic gold medalist complete as big an upset as seemed fathomable at that moment. A clearly disinterested Ali was clearly outhustled, giving birth to a brief and tumultuous reign for the world's most famous toothless grin.
Muhammad Ali W 15 Leon Spinks (September 15, 1978): Only seven months later, but as opposite a result as could be. Spinks was exposed as an unprepared novice and Ali showed necessary flashes of the brilliance he'd displayed through a career that should have ended that night in New Orleans. Eternal shame on Dundee and Co. for not insisting he ride off into the sunset he deserved.
Larry Holmes KO 11 Renaldo Snipes (November 6, 1981): Another three-decade recollection that's as vivid today as it was when I was 12. Back then, I nearly choked to death on a late-night bowl of Froot Loops when Holmes tumbled to the floor from "Mister" Snipes' rocket-launched overhand right in the seventh. Still, after going face-first into the ringpost upon standing, Holmes regained control by the end of the round and ended the challenger's 15 minutes of fame four sessions later.
Larry Holmes KO 13 Gerry Cooney (June 11, 1982): Hard to believe it's been 30 years since the "Gentleman" from Long Island had at least a few smart people -- and one gullible 13-year-old -- thinking a minute-long vaporization of Ken Norton made him worthy of an audience with a guy who wound up as one of the greatest champs the division ever had. Holmes reigned for three more years and fought for two more decades, while Cooney was a memory after just five more appearances.
Tony Tubbs W 15 Greg Page (April 29, 1985): The first heavyweight title match I attended was memorable less for its sleep-inducing competition and more for the ringside appearance of Ali, who wowed the crowd with between-round flurries and chant-leading. Even four years past his last bout and a decade beyond his prime, "The Greatest" could've probably handled both pretenders masquerading at Buffalo's since-demolished Memorial Auditorium.
Michael Spinks W 15 Larry Holmes I (September 21, 1985): A few decades of weight-class rises have dulled the significance that accompanied an unbeaten, prime light heavy jumping up to challenge a significantly bigger man whose skills were declining. Age concerns aside, though, not many expected Holmes to fail to catch his awkward foe at some point over 15 rounds. But he never did. And after it ended, his mouth provided far more offense than his fists did.
Michael Spinks W 15 Larry Holmes II (April 19, 1986): Even 25 years downwind, this one still reeks. The punishment for Holmes' post-fight barbs toward Las Vegas judges came seven months later, when the former champ was clearly the better man on the way to somehow losing a split decision at the Hilton. If he'd have gotten the victory he deserved, who knows if Larry would have hung on for 25 more fights.
Mike Tyson KO 2 Trevor Berbick (November 22, 1986): It's not often you see three knockdowns from one punch, which sent the previously sturdy Berbick stumbling around the ring after he'd been brutalized by a precocious 20-year- old powerhouse. It was the start of an era of train-wreck knockouts and headline transgressions for the just-enshrined Hall of Famer, whose potential on that night seemed limitless.
Evander Holyfield W 12 Riddick Bowe (November 6, 1993): Sure, everyone else remembers "Fan Man" and the cell phone beatdown he got upon arrival, but I look back and growl when thinking of the $100 I lost to then-coworker Mike Notaro thanks to the belief the "Real Deal's" prime was dead and buried. Bowe had looked so good in winning the first go-round that a long reign was inevitable, until it wasn't. And as it turned out, it was just the first in a career's worth of false promises by "Big Daddy."
George Foreman KO 10 Michael Moorer (November 5, 1994): As I recalled in a previous piece about jaw-dropping moments, this one is head and shoulders over most for the sudden and dramatic one-punch ending authored by a seemingly beaten challenger. Lampley's "it happened, it happened" call on HBO remains as good as a heat-of-the-moment description can get.
Evander Holyfield KO 11 Mike Tyson (November 9, 1996): I knew Evander was better. I knew he had what it took. I wrote 600 words in that day's Batavia (NY) Daily News explaining how it would unfold. But when push came to shove, I chickened out and said Tyson would win. And 15 years later, I still have to answer the occasional jab from good friend and journalism mentor John Carberry, who rightly chides me for the 20,000-circulation in-print cowardice.
Lennox Lewis KO 8 Mike Tyson (June 8, 2002): Another day, another gullible. Instead of leaning harder on Lewis' obvious advantages in size, strength and momentum, I placed too much emphasis on "Iron Mike's" persona and Lennox's occasionally balky chin in calling for a KO loss. Tyson looked as menacing as his words for about three minutes, then spent the next 20 or so getting pummeled by a three-belt incumbent at the very top of his game.
Roy Jones Jr. W 12 John Ruiz (March 1, 2003): In terms of all-time significance, it's admittedly pretty low. But the all-encompassing clinic a 193-pound Jones performed on the 226-pound Ruiz was a throwback to days when a few pounds on the scale meant less than the gumption possessed by a talented athlete. Years from now, Jones deserves to be remembered for this effort and others like it, rather than a subsequent stubborn refusal to leave.
Wladimir Klitschko KO 7 Chris Byrd (April 22, 2006): The cable TV unveiling of a Ph.D.-toting giant who'll take center stage again this weekend. Five years ago -- and five-plus years after easily outpointing Byrd in their first fight -- Klitschko delivered a frightful stoppage-worthy beating more memorable for the shrieks it prompted from Byrd's uber-irritating spouse at ringside.
Wladimir Klitschko KO 7 Calvin Brock (November 11, 2006): It's hard to imagine five years later that a lot of people gave the "Boxing Banker" a real chance at an upset against a far-less appreciated Klitschko. By the time the scared stiff Carolinian reached the Madison Square Garden ring, however, even his corner had to be rethinking its allegiances. Truth told, I recall this one as much for relaying college football scores to Bert Sugar on press row as for the dominance of the emerging Ukrainian.
This week's title-fight schedule:
FRIDAY
WBC flyweight title -- Songkhla, Thailand
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (champion) vs. Takuya Kogawa (unranked)
Wonjongkam (80-3-1, 44 KO): Second title defense; Unbeaten since 2007 (15-0-1, 10 KO)
Kogawa (17-1, 10 KO): First title fight; First fight outside Japan
Fitzbitz says: "Road-tripping challenger over his head with veteran champion." Wonjongkam in 9
SATURDAY
IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight titles -- Altona, Germany
Wladimir Klitschko (IBF/IBO/WBO champion) vs. David Haye (WBA champion)
Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO): Tenth IBF/IBO title defense; Unbeaten since 2004 (13-0, 10 KO)
Haye (25-1, 23 KO): Third WBA title defense; Unbeaten since 2004 (15-0, 13 KO)
Fitzbitz says: "Determined, angry Klitschko unbeatable in unification challenge." Klitschko in 5
WBA flyweight title -- Hermosillo, Mexico
Hernan Marquez (champion) vs. Edrin Dapudong (No. 13 contender)
Marquez (30-2, 23 KO): First title defense; Unbeaten in Mexico (29-0, 22 KO)
Dapudong (22-3, 13 KO): First title fight; Third fight in Mexico (1-1, 1 KO)
Fitzbitz says: "Incumbent champion too big a step for visiting Filipino." Marquez by decision
Last week's picks: 3-1 Overall picks record: 309-107 (74.2 percent)
Lyle Fitzsimmons is a veteran sports columnist who's written professionally since 1988 and covered boxing since 1995. His work is published in print and posted online for clients in North America and Europe. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter.
Lyle Fitzsimmons is a veteran sports columnist who's written professionally since 1988 and covered boxing since 1995. His work is published in print and posted online for clients in North America and Europe. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter.
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