By Don Colgan

By any measure, the succession of high profile championship bouts over the past nine months, beginning with Mayweather-De La Hoya through Mayweather’s overpowering 10th round stoppage of Ricky Hatton last December, there is no question that boxing has experienced it’s most exciting and successful year since the early 1990’s.

Interest in boxing, that all important chatter in the barbershops and luncheonettes, is back.

The stellar quality of the matches, combined with the aura surrounding Floyd Mayweather, Jr, has combined to revive this great sport.  The Tyson era, and the destruction it wrought upon boxing, has finally faded and the emergence of superb young battlers and marquee clashes have resulted in boxing’s return to relevance in the sports world.

However, for boxing’s recovery to be sustained, and ultimately completed, a heavyweight championship unification must take place, and the upcoming February 23rd clash between Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov is an enormous stride in that direction. 

Klitschko remains a formidable champion and, by merit of his ring achievements, should be one of the most recognizable figures in sports.   He is not a marginal champion who stumbled into the championship by virtue of an accidental cut or timely wallop.  For the past two years, he has been, without a shred of doubt, the most dominant and destructive force in the heavyweight division.  He has crushed one challenger after another, registering devastating stoppages over Chris Byrd, Calvin Brock, Ray Austin and Lamon Brewster.

Granted, the caliber of the top ten contenders in the heavyweight class of 2008 leaves much to be desired.   There is no Jerry Quarry, Kenny Norton or Oscar Bonavena to be found.  However, those who have observed Wladimir’s boxing evolution since his brother Vitali’s injury induced retirement two years ago, cannot deny he has, as heavyweights often do, blossomed into a skilled and powerful ringman with a crushing left jab and sledgehammer right hand. 

Slightly more than two years ago, it was brother Vitali who seemed destined to carry the heavyweight championship banner.  Wladimir’s tin chin had diminished his status within the division.  He suffered a crushing second round stoppage by Corrie Sanders and a 5th round TKO loss to Lamon Brewster in a bout he seemed destined to win.  He had descended into the pack, a former WBO champion yet a contender whose best days may have been behind him.

It is still inadvisable to rate Wladimir too highly.  Samuel Peter dumped him three times (twice actually) and he will always be at risk against a puncher of any caliber, including Peter.  However, by merit of his achievements over the past two years, he rates at the best heavyweight in the business, until proven otherwise within the four square.

His forthcoming Garden clash against Ibragimov finally places the spotlight on the heavyweight division, and whomever emerges victorious will hold a strengthened, more legitimate claim to the crown once worn by Holmes, Ali and Louis.  Klitschko is now in a position similar to Larry Holmes in the early 1980’s.  Holmes held the WBC championship and was never truly recognized as the undisputed champion.  However, whenever the term “Heavyweight Champion Of The World” was uttered, it was with the Easton Assassin in mind.  He was, beyond dispute, the finest heavyweight in the world.  The same can be said today about Klitschko.

Sultan has yet to demonstrate that he’s earned a position in the upper tier of the heavyweight class.  His two notable triumphs, over Shannon Briggs to capture the WBO Heavyweight crown and his first successful title defense, a unanimous decision over 44-year-old former four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, were not extraordinary achievements.

Briggs has remained a contender only because of the dearth of talented heavyweights over the past 8-years.  Holyfield is a lost soul, eons past his marvelous prime, still searching for another heavyweight championship and risking his physical and neurological health in the process.

But, Ibragimov can not be overlooked.  His chances against Kitschko are not too small to merit consideration and he stands to be Wladimir’s most formidable defense.  However, his twelve-round draw against Ray Austin, a very rugged bout in which Ray arguably could have been given the nod, pales in comparison to Klitscko’s two-round slaughter of Austin last March. 

The decision over Holyfield, who, even in his diminished fistic state, remains a fringe contender, boosted Ibragimov’s stock.  He rates as Wladimir’s toughest defense to date and the IBF titleholder would be wise to keep his chin tucked behind his shoulder should Ibragimov unload one of his dusty right hand leads that could spell a premature end to Klitschko’s emerging legacy.

Klitschko has many assets, one of which is his overall consistency over the past near decade.  In ways he is comparable to Lennox Lewis, who was the dominant heavyweight for over a decade yet suffered two brutal knockouts at the hands of McCall and Rahman, only to convincingly avenge them both.  Lennox clearly possessed the superior ring skills over Klitschko, yet the gap between them is not that far apart.

Any step in the direction of final unification of the World Heavyweight Championship is a step towards the full recovery of boxing.  It wasn’t that long ago when a pending heavyweight title bout dominated the sports pages for several weeks prior to the contest and usually for days afterward.  A Louis, Marciano, Patterson, Ali or Holmes title defense was a statement in sports, generating discussions in many walks of life, from the hotdog stand to the gas station.

Boxing needs that “chatter,”  that vital stream of dialogue surrounding a heavyweight championship bout that is instrumental to boxing's wellbeing.  A fractured heavyweight division with 4 splintered titleholders assures that any man on the street will be unable to answer the question  of “who is the heavyweight champion of the  world?”