By Kevin Kincade (photo by Richie Maldonado)

When you’ve been watching the sport as long as I have, you think you’ve got it pretty well figured out; you think you have a pretty good idea of what’s going to happen when the bell rings.  Well, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Shannon Briggs and Sergei Liakhovich for taking me and so many others to “Never-in-my-wildest-dreamsville.”  That non-fight on Saturday night took the sport down a couple of notches, just when our hopes were on the rebound. 

There I was, Saturday afternoon, positively glowing with anticipation of a fight that guaranteed excitement and then Saturday night came and both men had a bad case of performance anxiety. 

Thank God this borefest wasn’t on pay-per-view, or I would have been arrested for picketing my local cable office.  What happened?  Liakhovich had taken all of our breaths away with his stirring, gutsy performance in winning the WBO trinket from Lamon Brewster and you just knew Briggs was going to go all-out to win his “rightful” place in the spotlight after all the years of fighting in relative obscurity against obscure opponents and harsh criticism.  WRONG!!!

I repeat, “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!” 

I was asking myself that question into the wee hours of Sunday morning, racking my brain, trying to figure out how what should have been the heavyweight Hagler-Hearns turned into the best cure for insomnia since ribbon-dancing became an Olympic sport.  I finally came to one conclusion:  fear.  One man was scared of running out of gas and one man was afraid of getting knocked on his ass. 

If not for the expert advice of Kenny Weldon, Sergei probably never would have seen the end of round 3….provided, of course, that Shannon decided to do what he was getting paid for and fight. 

It’s a cliché; but it’s true:  “It’s easier to win the World Championship than it is to keep it.”  When Sergei was slated to face off against Brewster on April Fool’s Day this year, everyone and their grandmother knew that he was just another easy fight for Lamon; no one gave him much of a chance at all.  He was the proverbial guy with nothing to lose; and there is no more dangerous creature on the planet.  He had no expectations to live up to, so he had no expectations to fail. 

Now, seven month’s later, he faces off against an opponent hardly anyone believes can win in front of his adopted home-state crowd in Phoenix, Arizona:  the eyes of the boxing world were upon him.  This time, he had everything to lose and nothing really to gain.  That’s pressure, folks; and Sergei couldn’t handle it.  He choked.

You can’t really blame him, I suppose.  He’d never before been the center of attention throughout his career.  He was only co-staring in Lamon Brewster’s Cleveland debut before he took the lead role and stole the drama; and, let’s face it, Shannon Briggs is one intimidating looking figure.  At 6’4”, 268 Lbs of rock-solid muscle, with a stare that would make Mr. T’s legs shake, Briggs looked like he should have been challenging “King Booker” for the WWE title, rather than settling for Liakhovich’s WBO strap. 

As I looked at Briggs during the pre-fight introductions, all I could think was how he looked more like an action figure than a prize-fighter, which is ironic when one considers that action was the last thing he produced until the final thirty seconds when he neutered “The White Wolf” before our very eyes.  Maybe Sergei suspected the impending end to his reign, for he had the facial expression of a man going to the gallows at the opening bell.  Who knows?  Or, what’s more important of a question, “Who cares?”

Both men disgraced the sport with their lack of passion for Boxing’s richest prize and their disdain for the paying public.  I’m not saying they should have done their best to recreate Foreman-Lyle, just that they should have at least acted like they were putting forth a “championship effort.”  Sergei Liakhovich was a fighter most of the boxing world hadn’t even heard of a year ago, yet, going into this fight, he was considered by many, myself included, to be the second best heavyweight in the world.  His title winning brawl with Brewster was arguably the heavyweight fight of the year, certainly the best one I’ve seen in years.  Yet, when the spotlight shone on him, he melted like a snowman in the mid-summer sun. 

Shannon Briggs has been complaining for years, to all who would listen, about how the sport’s best fighters were shamelessly ducking him and how varius management had done him wrong and used his name, etc, yet, last night, when he was the star and fighting for a version of the world championship, he showed as much get-up-and-go as a child standing in line for a flu-shot. 

For those who keep asking the current question of the day, “Why don’t people watch boxing anymore?” put Briggs-Liakhovich in your VCR and watch it a few times.  The truth will hit you like that blinding light that hit the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. 

If anything good can come out of last weekend’s snooze-fest, it is this:  opportunity to take center stage in the heavyweight division has never been easier than it is right now.  Wladimir Klitschko and Calvin Brock are going to be meeting for the IBF strap this weekend, and following Briggs-Liakhovich should be as easy as following Witherspoon-Tubbs; you can’t do much worse. 

The heavyweight division hasn’t had a real champion since Lennox Lewis retired; and while Wladimir took over the post of #1 heavyweight when he vanquished Chris Byrd in April, few feel that Brock is a worthy challenger, despite his undefeated record. 

This weekend both men can boost themselves head and shoulders above the rest of the pack if they have the desire to do so. WBA titlist, Nikolai Valuev has impressed no one with his boxing skill nor opposition, thus far.  Oleg Maskaev may have impressed the public with his heart and will to win when he toppled the WBC crown from Hasim Rahman’s head; but is still widely viewed as a limited fighter with a limited reign in front of him.  The division is wide open for those who “dare to dare” as Muhammad Ali once said.

In the wake of the pathetic showing of Shannon Briggs and Sergei Liakhovich, the fans are foaming at the mouth for an exciting heavyweight surprise, and Wlad and Calvin are on deck, waiting their turn at bat.  Can they deliver is the question.

Truthfully, it’s hard to say.  Cliché or no, styles do make fights; and how Klitschko’s powerful ranginess and Brock’s plainness are going to match-up is anyone’s guess.  Calvin has shown flashes of power in some of his fights; but, more often than not, he’s shown a technical workmanship that, while effective, isn’t necessarily pleasing to the eye.  He’s not a risk-taker; he’s a banker, for crying out loud.  How many bankers have you ever known to take risks? 

Brock’s style, so far, has been reflective of this attitude:  he carefully calculates his game plan and divides it by his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses and cashes in at the end of the day with a win.  The only difference this time is he’s going to have to account for the rate of exchange, for he is dealing with a currency, he’s never seen before.  Viewing footage of their fights, it is easily discernable that Wladimir’s Hyrvnias and Euros pack more punch than Brock’s dollars and cents. 

Also, whether or not Brock can break Wladimir’s bank, which has proven itself none too stable in the past, is another question investors will be banking on or not.

Okay, okay, enough with the cheesy bankers’ lingo.  Here are the facts:  Wladimir is a bigger, stronger, rangier, faster fighter than Brock, and he’s also far more experienced against better opposition.  It is true that “Dr. Steel Hammer” has tasted the canvas more than he would have liked in the last few years; but he has shown great improvement in his technical game as well as his in-ring patience since bringing Emmanuel Steward on board as his trainer. 

Calvin, on the other hand, has also shown better than average power and the heart to get up when knocked down, and what’s better, to mount a comeback when hurt as he did against Jameel McCline, so he has a chance.  Unfortunately for Calivin, Wladimir Klitschko and Jameel McCline are in completely different leagues. Meaning, if Brock can’t step up his game Saturday night, he’s got a very good chance of getting knocked out, should Wladimir opt for an aggressive game plan.

Of course, there is the possibility that these two will play chess for 12 Rounds, which means the fight could go either way, depending upon how their styles mesh.  Given that Brock is not a risk taker and that Wladimir has been more patient under Manny’s tutelage, the thought of this fight making it into the later rounds is not out of the question.

Brock is bigger and stronger than Chris Byrd, if only slightly, and he is far more comfortable in the role of counter-puncher from what I’ve seen.  Wladimir, on the other hand, likes to press the action and do so efficiently and with a certain amount of precision.  If you add those two styles up, what you’ve got is a game of cat and mouse, which favors the cat at first glance, given his enormous physical advantages.  However, anytime Wladimir is involved in a match with a man who has even the slightest hint of punching power, things get interesting because there’s always the possibility of him getting tagged; and the ensuing question of how well he can take it.  

Is Calvin Brock’s punching power on the same level as Corrie Sanders, a Lamon Brewster, or even a Samuel Peter?  Probably not.  That doesn’t mean he can’t get Wladimir’s attention or even hurt him; but on the two recent occasions where Wlad was stopped, he wasn’t knocked cold, and he’s learned how to hold on since then and tie up his opponents.  No matter how you size ‘em up, all signs point to a Klitschcko win; but if we learned anything from last weekend, it’s that nothing is certain in “the theater of the unexpected.”

Whoever wins, they need to be aware of what this fight means as of last Saturday.  Briggs, while winning the WBO belt, did not look impressive in the least, with the exception of his well-defined, almost comic book-hero/villain physique. 

The next chapter of the World Heavyweight Championship has yet to be written; the glamour division is still without a boss.  Wladimir Klitschko can take one more step towards that claim with his fight against Calvin Brock on Saturday night.  He can’t do it with just with a win; but with how he wins and the same can be said for “The Boxing Banker”.

Currently, the division’s wide-open.  There are four claimants to the throne:  Valuev, Briggs, Maskaev, and Klitschko.  The time has come for one to break away from the rest of the pack; to run the gauntlet and grasp the grail.  The first leg of that journey begins Saturday night.  Who will dare to be great and unite the kingdom of the muddle-weight division?  Klitschko, Brock……YOU’RE UP!

Questions or Comments:  kevin.kincade@citcomm.com