Klitschko beats Peter in typical yawn fest
Last Saturday in Frankfurt Germany unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko took on challenger Samuel Peter for the second time in five years. Klitschko was forced to fight Peter after both WBA titlist David Haye and top contender Alexander Povetkin dropped out of fight negotiations with him.
In the case of Haye, a supreme amount of trash talk directed to Klitschko has not been worth its weight in action. Haye is a media butterfly and it’s clear he enjoys the spotlight probably more than actually fighting. He's the kind of titlist who enjoys calling himself the champion, as oppose to demonstrating it. His antics were further shown with recent comments about Audley Harrison. Haye said their upcoming bout will be as “one-sided as a gang rape.” Be that as it may, Haye backed out from the Klitschkos after stating he wasn't happy with purse offerings and the way he was treated by the brothers. Well, man up, Hayemaker—these are guys you want to fight in the ring, what do you expect?
Because the story has been much the same with Povetkin, albeit with very different chapters (Povetkin's trainer Teddy Atlas made him pull out of a Klitschko fight, saying he wasn’t ‘ready’), Peter was offered the opportunity to get at Klitschko. Naturally, he was excited, since during their last fight in 2005 Peter had come within a hairsbreadth of knocking Klitschko out.
This time around, however, no such luck for Peter. Actually on this occasion, the fight looked nothing like the original. In that case Peter let his hands go at will, and much more often. Generally he seemed faster and more fit too, not as sluggish. But this time he looked supremely hesitant, as if he still hadn’t realized he was out of the employment waiting line and had found a job fighting for a title shot.
Klitschko, on the other hand, totally controlled the pace of the bout by using his height and reach advantage to keep Peter at a distance. He dazzled with stiff jabs and occasionally chanced combinations that offset Peter repeatedly. Fighting at an outside range, which is never where Peter wants to be against Klitschko, he was forced to resort to sweeping long range shots that were never close to the mark.
Did Klitschko bore in his usual fashion?
The short answer is yes. For one, part of the reason the boxing community comes down so hard on Klitschko is because without fail he clinches onto his opponent when times are tough like a woeful lover. In boxing, clinching is an art unto itself, and the masters know how to apply it in order to be saved from ultimate destruction. But in Klitschko’s case, it more shows the fatigue and despicableness which underscores the heavyweight division. When these guys have to lean on each other every thirty seconds to stay on their feet, we’re in trouble.
So because Klitschko did utilize the famous “Klitschko clinch” for much of the fight, he loses the usual points and maintains his status as one of the dullest fighters in the sport. Evaluating his performance in the entertainment factor category, Klitschko lost this fight, and therefore also lost it with the HBO executives that let him go last year.
The fight was simple in that when Klitschko did actually throw combinations, which was few and far between, Peter couldn’t handle the attack. He was too slow and sluggish. Someone faster though, like Tomasz Adamek, might be the solution to the Klitschko reign for precisely this reason. He would be able to sidestep or just back away from this slow onslaught, and try other technical attacks to engage Klitschko.
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