When Vitali Klitschko announced his return to boxing in 2008, he told everyone he was coming back for one reason: He wanted to make history. He wanted to join his younger brother, IBF and WBO titleholder Wladimir Klitschko, as a world champion, thereby becoming the first pair of brothers to hold heavyweight titles simultaneously. Vitali accomplished that feat in his first fight back, knocking out Samuel Peter in a one-sided bout that earned him the WBC belt, the same title he relinquished when he retired.
For the first time in nearly five years, a legitimate heavyweight champion roosts atop the boxing food chain.
Wladimir Klitschko retained his IBF and WBO heavyweight titles following a technical knockout victory over the previously undefeated Ruslan Chagaev in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on Saturday night.
What a muddled mess the heavyweight division has become. Four recognized titles. Five, if you count Ring Magazine. Champions. Champions in Recess. Champions Emeritus. Sanctioning bodies manipulating their rankings (have you seen WBA No. 1 contender John Ruiz recently?) just to squeeze out a few extra dollars. And the only cost is the integrity of the sport.
World heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko was left frustrated on Wednesday when Briton David Haye pulled out of their June 20 title clash after suffering an injury in training.
Briton David Haye has finally secured a shot at the world heavyweight title after signing a contract to take on Ukrainian champion Wladimir Klitschko.
What we saw Saturday in the heavyweight title fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Hasim Rahman was a clinical dismantling.
In the five years I have spent covering boxing, I have had a few of what I like to call "cringe moments." I cringed when greedy promoters paraded a battered and broken Mike Tyson into the ring for fight after fight, even though he was little more than a shell of his former self. And he had a history of biting people.
In a sport where sanctioning bodies routinely manipulate the rankings to serve their interests, where networks permit promotional companies to dictate scheduling and where promoters allow a general distaste for one another to get in the way of making the best fights, is it possible that judging is the most corrupted part of boxing?
Nikolai Valuev's disputed decision win over John Ruiz on Saturday (his second disputed decision win over Ruiz, for those who are counting) reportedly drew boos from the crowd in Berlin's Max Schmeling Stadium. It drew basically no response at all from American sports fans, of course, since the bout wasn't actually televised in the U.S. Even had it been, though, it's hard to imagine that the rematch between the 35-year-old Valuev, whose 7-foot height is barely enough to compensate for his rudimentary skills, and the 36-year-old Ruiz, who though adept, always seems to do just enough to underwhelm the judges, would have generated much interest on the first weekend of the college football season. Or on any other weekend, for that matter.
When Vitali Klitschko announced his return to boxing in 2008, he told everyone he was coming back for one reason: He wanted to make history. He wanted to join his younger brother, IBF and WBO titleholder Wladimir Klitschko, as a world champion, thereby becoming the first pair of brothers to hold heavyweight titles simultaneously. Vitali accomplished that feat in his first fight back, knocking out Samuel Peter in a one-sided bout that earned him the WBC belt, the same title he relinquished when he retired.
For the first time in nearly five years, a legitimate heavyweight champion roosts atop the boxing food chain.
Wladimir Klitschko retained his IBF and WBO heavyweight titles following a technical knockout victory over the previously undefeated Ruslan Chagaev in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on Saturday night.
What a muddled mess the heavyweight division has become. Four recognized titles. Five, if you count Ring Magazine. Champions. Champions in Recess. Champions Emeritus. Sanctioning bodies manipulating their rankings (have you seen WBA No. 1 contender John Ruiz recently?) just to squeeze out a few extra dollars. And the only cost is the integrity of the sport.
World heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko was left frustrated on Wednesday when Briton David Haye pulled out of their June 20 title clash after suffering an injury in training.
Briton David Haye has finally secured a shot at the world heavyweight title after signing a contract to take on Ukrainian champion Wladimir Klitschko.
What we saw Saturday in the heavyweight title fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Hasim Rahman was a clinical dismantling.
In the five years I have spent covering boxing, I have had a few of what I like to call "cringe moments." I cringed when greedy promoters paraded a battered and broken Mike Tyson into the ring for fight after fight, even though he was little more than a shell of his former self. And he had a history of biting people.
In a sport where sanctioning bodies routinely manipulate the rankings to serve their interests, where networks permit promotional companies to dictate scheduling and where promoters allow a general distaste for one another to get in the way of making the best fights, is it possible that judging is the most corrupted part of boxing?
Nikolai Valuev's disputed decision win over John Ruiz on Saturday (his second disputed decision win over Ruiz, for those who are counting) reportedly drew boos from the crowd in Berlin's Max Schmeling Stadium. It drew basically no response at all from American sports fans, of course, since the bout wasn't actually televised in the U.S. Even had it been, though, it's hard to imagine that the rematch between the 35-year-old Valuev, whose 7-foot height is barely enough to compensate for his rudimentary skills, and the 36-year-old Ruiz, who though adept, always seems to do just enough to underwhelm the judges, would have generated much interest on the first weekend of the college football season. Or on any other weekend, for that matter.
At 4 p.m. Wednesday, a contingent from Top Rank, led by CEO Bob Arum, will arrive at the Los Angeles offices of Golden Boy Promotions to begin -- and hopefully finalize -- negotiations with Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer for a December welterweight bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Paquiao.
One of the questions I'm often asked is this: When today's kids, who love the so-called Extreme Sports -- that's the X Games, like skateboarding -- grow up, won't that mean that traditional sports will tumble in popularity?
Double world heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschko has been given the green light to defend his WBO belt against American Tony Thompson on July 12 in Hamburg.
The call came last week, just as I was boarding a plane to Salt Lake City. On the other end of the line was Bernd Boente, the top-flight manager for IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and his brother, former WBC champion Vitali Klitschko.
When it comes to the movies, the finale of a trilogy can be hit or miss. You have the good (The Bourne Ultimatum), the bad (Species III) and the why-did-I-just-shell-out-10-bucks-for-this (Robocop 3). The same holds true in boxing, which has a long history of epic final battles. From Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier to Mickey Ward-Arturo Gatti, when two pugilists meet in a rubber match, the expectations usually meet the hype. There are exceptions, however.
International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko seized the World Boxing Organization belt on Saturday with a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden.
Saturday night's fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov is being ballyhooed as a heavyweight championship unification bout. That doesn't mean all that much in these days of balkanized belts, faceless titleholders and the general eclipse of boxing. Ah, but once there were giants. For a sense of just what the heavyweight title meant in an earlier time -- both in the world of sport and beyond -- tune in a couple of hours before Klitschko and Ibragimov get ready to rumble (or stumble, or whatever it is today's big men do) for HBO's lovingly produced and provocative Joe Louis: America's Hero ... Betrayed, a documentary on perhaps the greatest and most important heavyweight champion of all time.
A unification fight between IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov is close to being finalized, Klitschko's manager Bernd Boente told SI.com on Friday.
One of the loudest criticisms of boxing -- usually levied by advocates of mixed martial arts -- is that the sport is dominated by aging stars. For the most part, the critics are correct. Oscar de la Hoya (34), Floyd Mayweather (30), Wladimir Klitschko (31) and Shane Mosley (36) are all on the wrong side of 30. They are also still the biggest draws, with De La Hoya-Mayweather breaking every box office record and Klitschko leveling every young fighter left dangling in his path.
With enough glitz, kitch and corporate sponsorships to make Las Vegas blush, welcome to the new and weird (yet weirdly underwhelming) epicenter of world boxing
NEW YORK -- IBF and IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko refuted a report Sunday that he suffered a broken hand during his win over Lamon Brewster.
A stateside Baguette as we wait out the rain in Paris...
Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko will defend his International Boxing federation heavyweight crown against American Lamon Brewster on July 7 in Cologne, Germany.
There are only so many stiffs Evander Holyfield can beat up on before someone gives him a title shot.
In 1992, Riddick Bowe decided to take a stand. Unhappy with the WBC's mandate that he fight No. 1 contender Lennox Lewis, Bowe decided that the belt was no longer worth the leather strap it came on. So in a glorious public-relations stunt, Bowe took the belt and unceremoniously dumped it into a London trash can.
American Shannon Briggs knocked Sergei Liakhovich through the ropes one second before the end of the last round to win the WBO heavyweight title in dramatic style.
WBA titleholder Nikolai Valuev, the biggest heavyweight champion of all time, will fight in the United States on October 7, defending his title against Monte Barrett.
Wladimir Klitschko is aiming to repeat a previous victory over champion Chris Byrd again when the two meet on Saturday in an International Boxing Federation (IBF) world heavyweight title bout in Mannheim.
Vladimir Klitschko has vowed to carry on boxing despite his surprise defeat by American Lamon Brewster in last weekend's WBO heavyweight title fight.
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