By Mark Workman

When current WBO heavyweight champion “Relentless” Lamon Brewster won his belt in a fight for the vacant title against Wladimir Klitschko eighteen months ago, I remained unconvinced about this virtually unknown fighter.

But after exciting knockout wins over Andrew Golota and, most recently, Germany’s Luan Krasniqi, I’m now wondering if Lamon Brewster is America’s only current champion with any hope of converting all four pieces of the heavyweight crown into an undisputed one and keeping it in America.

Lamon Brewster (33-2, 29 KOs) was born in Indianapolis, IN on June 5, 1973. Born the eldest of four children, Brewster idolized martial arts legend Bruce Lee and seemed to have a penchant for destroying his mother’s house. When he one day decided to karate-chop his birthday present drum kit into oblivion, his mother took him to the Riverside Gym in hopes of seeing him unleash his aggression in a more positive and less expensive manner.

At the age of 15 Brewster began fighting and beating boxers older than him, training under Bill Brown; and at the age of 18 moved to Los Angeles and began training under the guidance of famed trainer Bill Slayton.

Building an impressive amateur record, he went on to twice win the Indiana Golden Gloves and California Golden Gloves, a Silver Medal in the Pan Am Games, the ABF Nationals and the Olympic summer fest where he brought home the Olympic Trial Runner-up Award and was voted the boxer "Most Likely to Succeed as a Professional.” He turned pro nine years ago at the age of 23.

Don King calls Brewster “Black Rocky” because when all is lost he digs down deep and finds victory. This seems to be a consistent trait with Brewster and because of this I’ve grown to admire his tenacity and will to win.

When Lamon Brewster got up off the floor and stopped Wladimir Klitschko last year and won the WBO belt he got my attention, but I was still unconvinced after his split decision and contested win over ex-sparring partner Kali Meehan, a transplanted New Zealander fighting out of Wyongah, Australia.

But by withstanding the heavy beating he took in the eighth round of the Meehan fight, Brewster proved that he has a rock-solid chin, huge heart and determination to spare. After the Meehan fight prominent trainer Jesse Reid was added to the mix to strengthen Brewster’s boxing skills.

When Lamon completely destroyed chronic underachiever Andrew Golota in round one back in May of this year I really began to take notice; but it was his recent win over Luan Krasniqi in front of Krasniqi’s home country crowd in Hamburg, Germany that really had me convinced of Brewster’s mettle as a fighter and champion.

Refusing to be rattled by the hostile German and pro-Krasniqi crowd of ten thousand, Brewster successfully defended his WBO title for the third time. His left eye cut in the third round, Brewster stalked Krasniqi until he finally floored him with a devastating left hook in the eighth round. After a long count by the referee that was well beyond ten seconds, Krasniqi made it to his feet and was saved by the bell. But in the next round Brewster refused to lose and hit Luan with a hard right hand and the bout was finally stopped by the German referee.

Seeing Krasniqi fighting with his hands down low, it’s no surprise that he was clobbered by Brewster. Lennox Lewis could get away with that kind of stuff, but Luan Krasniqi is no Lennox Lewis and never will be. A little less misguided bravado in front of a home country crowd and a bit more protecting his chin and Krasniqi might have won that fight. He was ahead on the judges’ scorecards. But I still think Brewster would’ve dug down deep and pulled it out in the end.

He has a heart the size of Hamburg.

Brewster is a spiritual man, a devoted husband and father and contributes his time and money to worthy charitable causes, so you can’t help but like him as a human being. In the ring he refuses to give up, welcomes adversity and always reaches down deep to find victory in the end, so you can’t help but admire him as a fighter.

And the fact that he seems dedicated to unifying the heavyweight crown makes him even more appealing to me.

With Brewster’s big showing against Krasniqi in front of the German public it wouldn’t surprise me to see him fighting against Wladimir Klitschko in Germany in the near future; and should he beat Wladimir for the second time, an absolute revenge superfight awaits him on German soil against WBC champion and brother to Wladimir, Vitali Klitschko.

This is certainly where the big money is for Brewster; but will Vitali Klitschko take the fight? The same question can be asked of Wladimir, him now being the number one mandatory for Brewster’s WBO belt.

With Jameel McCline’s recent embarrassing loss to unknown journeyman Zuri Lawrence (20-10-4, 0 KOs), more of these over-hyped “future heavyweight champions” are being weeded out of the division. On the same card, New Zealand’s David Tua (44-3-1, 38 KOs) proved that he’s still willing and able to pound it out and win against the bigger heavyweights in the division, defeating unknown 6’4”, 263-pound Cisse Salif (17-5-2, 16 KOs).

Cisse Salif is no Vitali Klitschko (or Wladimir) so I wouldn’t read too much into this victory; but Tua came into the fight at a “decent” weight (for him) of 245 lbs, so maybe he’s finally going to start taking his training more seriously from now on; but he can still stand to do a lot more work in the gym and get into even better shape.

Tua was far from his best and barely pulled out that win against Salif. A fight between Tua and Brewster would most certainly be all-guns-blazing from start to finish, ending with someone flat on their back. Right now, I’d have to bet on Brewster.

After seeing James Toney soundly beat WBA champ John Ruiz—but then have the win ruled a no contest due to Toney testing positive for a banned substance—I’m even more convinced than ever that Ruiz would have little chance against the bigger fighters such as the Klitschko brothers. And with Ruiz turning 34 in January, Father Time is no longer his friend.

We can only hope that Don King will move towards a unification fight between Ruiz and Brewster and partially clear up this muddled mess that is the heavyweight crown. If Brewster can get beyond Ruiz’s constant punch-and-hold style I think he might be able to knock him out and send the Puerto Rican champ on to the retirement home.

I’ve always liked the extremely talented James Toney as a fighter—although I could live without his constant over-the-top trash-talking—but I just can’t picture him as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. For the sake of boxing, we need to be able to visualize every fighter in every weight division as the undisputed champion.

If I can’t honestly see a fighter beating everyone in the division that holds a belt, it’s hard for me to completely get behind him as a fan. Toney’s a talented fighter and could probably defeat many of the heavyweights out there today, but I just can’t picture him as the future of the heavyweight division at age 37.

Moving up in weight to fight heavyweights for bigger purses—and because a fighter can no longer make weight in the lower divisions—is great for a fighter but it does nothing to restore public credibility and faith in the heavyweight championship of the world. If I can’t picture in my mind a fighter walking into the ring wrapped in all the championship belts like undisputed Iron Mike Tyson of old, it’s hard for me to generate any kind of serious give-a-damn level inside me.

Boxing needs fighters who are willing and able to fight EVERYONE in their division with one dedicated mission of unifying the title. If he doesn’t fit that bill, I can’t get totally behind him as a fan, and I certainly don’t want to spend my hard-earned pay-per-view dollars on him. And if polled, I’m sure the majority of boxing fans will say the same.

Even though I respect Chris Byrd and his boxing skills, like him as a human being and certainly sympathize with his predicament of not being able to get the bigger fights that he wants and deserves, the plain fact is that I cannot picture him as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world with his less-than-exciting fighting style.

I’m sorry, but if the heavyweight champion of the world isn’t capable of knocking his opponent flat on his back, the majority of boxing fans—especially the casual ones that the sport desperately needs back—are never going to truly care. And THAT is reality.

I have no doubt that Vitali Klitschko will finally put an end to any more title bids by Hasim Rahman, knocking him out once and for all. That upcoming fight is nothing more than a final big payday for Rahman and clearly over-hyped into a false reality.

It’s also my belief that Wladimir Klitschko will probably opt to first go after—and win—Chris Byrd’s IBF belt, especially after witnessing Byrd’s recent snoring win over DaVarryl Williamson. Can we please stop having fights between friends for the heavyweight title? It only makes for boring fights and a waste of the fans’ time and money.

As Chris Byrd, 36, nears the end of his career, I don’t see him beating Wladimir Klitschko, should that rematch happen. In their first fight Byrd was down in the ninth and eleventh rounds and lost a lopsided unanimous decision. I just can’t see Byrd doing much better five years later.

With his recent win over Sam Peter—despite being deposited on the canvas three times—Wladimir’s confidence is now back up and Chris Byrd lacks the punch to drop him as did Sam Peter. I just can’t see Chris Byrd defeating Wladimir Klitschko at this point in either fighter’s career.

Lamon Brewster has already stopped Wladimir Klitschko in April of 2004, that fight being stopped at the end of the fifth round when Klitschko, out of gas and rocked by two big Brewster left hooks, couldn’t continue and referee Robert Byrd called a halt to that heavy-handed massacre. Brewster had been knocked down in the fourth round but reached deep into the well and got up at the count of seven to batter Klitschko on the ropes and finally win the fight a round later.

Because of this I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wladimir avoiding another contest with Brewster for the time being, leaving that bit of business to his brother Vitali in a possible unification match, providing the fight can be made and Vitali will take the fight. I have no doubt that Brewster would take the fight in a heart beat but will WBC champion Vitali Klitschko risk his title against the hard-hitting and relentless Brewster. I hope so. The heavyweight division needs this unification fight.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the great country of Germany. I’ve traveled throughout it many times over the past two decades and have many good friends there; but I’m an American through and through and want to see the unified heavyweight title in America. There’s nothing wrong with some good old international competitive spirit. After all, that’s the foundation that the Olympics rest upon.

Having said this, I think Lamon Brewster is serious about fighting all comers and has certainly proven that he’s willing to go anywhere on this planet, including Germany, to unify the title. Klitschko brothers beware.

Some will say I’m crazy, but as I look at the big picture of the heavyweight division right now, I don’t see too many fighters except Lamon Brewster who truly have any hope of breaking what is going to be the future Klitschko lock on the heavyweight division. He may lack the boxing skills of the Klitschko brothers but I think his heart and determination to remain champion is a big and important factor.

I do believe that Sam Peter will also one day fit this bill, but this young fighter still has more learning and developing ahead of him. But with a breath of fresh air in the trainer department—the name Kevin Rooney is recently being bandied about—I can definitely visualize Sam Peter as the undisputed champion of the world one day. Seeing Brewster and Sam Peter in the ring together is another heavyweight firefight equal to that of Brewster vs Tua.

Calvin Brock (26-0, 21 KOs) is certainly another heavyweight to keep our eyes on, but I want to see more from him before I’m convinced of where he’s truly going in the division. I think he’ll get beyond David Bostice on November 19, but then everyone thought Jameel McCline would easily beat Zuri Lawrence, so nothing is a foregone conclusion there…or anywhere in boxing.

If Calvin Brock gets past Bostice and then defeats David Tua on January 28, he’ll certainly rise a few more degrees on my confidence meter for him. This is definitely a fight where David Tua had better get into the best shape of his career or I think the days of his new comeback will definitely be numbered.

If Brewster and Brock both keep winning, it’s inevitable that we’ll see them in the ring together, keeping in mind that we’re talking about boxing and nothing is guaranteed, of course. But if Brewster has anything to say about it, I think he’ll take the fight when it comes to him.

In light of his recent win against Krasniqi, hopefully Don King will get more serious about promoting Brewster on American television, bringing a bigger awareness of him to the world audience and not let him just rot as he’s been doing with Chris Byrd.

Lamon Brewster may lack the skills to outbox fighters such as Chris Byrd and the Klitschko brothers, but he’s an exciting brawler, a big puncher with immense power in both hands and possesses not only the heart of a lion but the whole damned pack. And that might be just enough to bring it all back to America and keep it here for a while.

For comments about this article, you can email Mark Workman at mark@markworkman.com .