By John Hively

Vitali Klitschko is scheduled to return to the ring on September 22nd against Jameel McCline. This is the battle comprised of unknown factors.

 

Does Vitali have anything left after being out of the ring nearly three years? He was last spotted destroying Danny Williams in eight rounds in December 2004. That’s a long time ago for any boxer, let alone a thirty-six year old boxer.

 

Vitali was then on a roll with dominant stoppages of Williams, Corrie Sanders and Kirk Johnson, all top ten contenders. He looked like a fine successor to then recently retired heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. But injuries interrupted his momentum, he retired, and now he has returned.

 

The division is much stronger and more competitive than three years ago. It can easily be argued that there hasn’t been this much talent and depth among boxing’s big guys in over thirty years.

 

Getting by Jameel will not be easy. There are some risks for Vitali going against this dangerous opponent. Notice Vitali is not returning against some soft stiff who will gracefully swoon and then plop down on his posterior the first time a punch with bad intentions comes in his direction. Perhaps Vitali’s handlers sense that he has a lot left, at least in the gym. But then Mickey Ward thought Arturo Gatti had a lot left for his last fight based on his work in the gym. When the bell rang, Arturo mostly resembled a punching bag. Sometimes you just can’t tell. 

 

And what about McCline? Jameel has not scored a significant victory since his decision over Shannon Briggs during April 2002. And his leg gave out several months ago against Nicolay Valuev, giving him a TKO loss. What skills and determination does he still possess? He still has a lot to prove, but all indications are that he is a gatekeeper, no longer a real contender. A victory over Vitali would enhance his reputation and perhaps place him on the road to being a legit contender again. 

 

This fight could be a humdinger but it will still prove nothing for either pugilist. The winner will likely advance in stature and might undeservedly bounce into somebody’s top twenty or top ten ratings. If McCline loses, he will still be a stepping stone. It Vitali loses, he should return to retirement if only to avoid being a stepping stone. 

 

Speaking of stepping stones, James Toney continues to fight on; but one has to wonder to what purpose? He hasn’t won a meaningful bout since he obliterated a badly faded Evander Holyfield five years ago.

 

Twice he has been implicated in steroid use, against John Ruiz and most recently against Danny Batchelder. True, Batchelder was also allegedly loaded with the illegal stuff, but the souped-up Toney still barely won. All things being equal, Batchelder probably would have lost every round against Toney even as late as September 2006. Danny’s biggest feat thus far in his career might have been when me managed stay seven rounds against light-hitting Alexander Dimitrenko in his previous fight. Toney’s so-called achievement suggests he no longer is a top forty heavyweight. He’s just an old, fat, slow, under-trained former great who didn’t see the end of the line he crossed when Samuel Peter floored him with a jab and totally dominated him during their bout last January.

 

Sure, it can be argued that Toney really defeated Peter during their first bout in September 2006; but he didn’t get the decision he deserved, took some extremely hard shots in the process, and has never looked the same since.

 

James is thirty-nine years old, is slower than molasses, can’t hurt anybody anymore, and ought to retire immediately. If an illegally souped-up Toney can barely squeeze by Batchelder, he’s not likely to be a threat to Wladimir Klitschko or any of the other top heavyweights.

 

Toney takes a really good shot which may prove his great undoing. That’s all he’s got left, really. His name might draw a pay-for-view crowd against a top heavyweight like Klitschko, but Toney’s last great strength will only allow him to absorb shot after shot after shot, to be a punching bag. That’s mostly what he really did in the second fight against Peter. And sometime in the future, if he continues in the game, he may be able to think for himself not much better than a punching bag. It’s time for James to hang it up. He’s given us a lot of great memories.

 

And the same holds true for Evander Holyfield. He’s been implicated in a recent steroid scandal and this has cast a large cloud of doubt that he actually scored legitimate wins against his most recent batch of carefully chosen opponents. He hasn’t been duking it out with the best guys out there. In other words, Holyfield is getting the buildup, which is usually reserved for young white fighters from the United States who can’t fight very well.

 

Now he is going to slug it out with Sultan Ibragimov, perhaps the fastest fighter of hands and feet in the division, a dangerous hitter and outstanding counter puncher. That’s not to suggest Sultan is the best the division has to offer, but he is one of the top guys; and so too was Holyfield five or six years ago—but no longer. This fight should be a mismatch even if steroids come flowing like a gushing waterfall out of Evander’s ears during it.

 

Tony Thompson should have gotten the shot at Ibragimov’s WBO Heavyweight title after stopping trial horse Luan Krasniqi, but then money talks. The green stuff has yelped loud enough that once again an undeserving boxer will get a shot at a title. Thompson needs to obtain a fight with a rated challenger, or someone close to the top ten. Ibragimov would have been a perfect opponent for him. Hasim Rahman and Shannon Briggs would also be worthwhile foes for Thompson to elevate his status. 

 

My current top ten heavyweights

 

1.      Wladimir Klitschko

2.      Ruslan Chagaev

3.      Samuel Peter

4.      Oleg Maskaev

5.      Sultan Ibragimov

6.      Nikolai Valuev

7.      Shannon Briggs

8.      Calvin Brock

9.      Chris Byrd

10.    Sergei Liakhovich

 

Thompson will likely replace the inactive Liakhovich in the next month or two even if Alexander Povetkin defeats Chris Byrd in October. Sure, Povetkin will leap frog into the ratings over Thompson, but Byrd (if he loses, and that’s no sure thing) and Liakhovich will drop out of the top ten, leaving room for both of the younger boxers.  

           

Maskaev versus Peter is the most meaningful fight on the horizon. Oleg has been stopped five times in his career, plus he is getting on in years. You would think the younger and harder hitting Peter will triumph by knockout, but you never can tell. Hasim Rahman should have twice cleaned Maskaev’s clock, but instead Oleg laid him out like a door mat in both their fights. Like Peter, Rahman is a hard hitter, but he is a more highly skilled boxer than the wild swinging Nigerian. If Oleg can withstand the best of Rahman, then he probably has a better chance to win than most people give him. 

 

The winner has to fight Vitali, and whoever it is might be in for a lot of hurt should Vitali beat McCline convincingly and demonstrate that he possesses most if not all of his old skills. But first he needs to speed by McCline, and that’s no sure thing. 

 

Wladimir Klitschko should be fighting again in a few months. Let’s hope it’s against a meaningful opponent like Valuev or Ruslan Chagaev. Ruslan might just be the second best fighter in the division, right behind Wlad. That’s the fight I’d pay fifty bucks to see via pay-for-view.