Boxing
KlitschKO'd: The Fall of The Ukrainian Giant (Again)/ Spinks Outworks Judah
-written April 14, 2004 by Aaron Sean Bayley

Vladamir Klitschko wanted to prove to the world that he wasn't a sissy. So he walked into the ring to a Queen song.

"We Will Rock You" lit up the crowd at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas as a nervous-looking Klitschko walked slowly to the ring wearing his trademark robe that makes him look like a European god. Then Lamon Brewster entered the ring.

To DMX.

The contrast between Freddie Mercury and DMX couldn't have been more ironic as Brewster, who had his trainer/father figure recently pass away, spoke of Klitschko "having to kill him" in order to retain his WBO title.

For the first three rounds, Vladamir fired left-right combos at Brewster's face and bullied him around the ring. Brewster didn't have an answer for Klitshcko's jab, and it didn't look like he was going to find one anytime soon. Emmanuel Steward, Klitschko's new trainer, seemed happy with his fighters new-found aggression, and it looked like Vladamir had found that killer instinct.

The pounding continued until round 4, when Klitschko got hit. It was apparent that Klitschko still hadn't learned how to cover up or clinch when he was hurt. By the fifth round, Klitshcko was all punched out, and what appeared to be a poor man's Foreman-Ali, Brewster sloppily finished him at the end of the round, as the Ukrainian floundered all over the ring before falling to the mat. I'm sure they heard it all the way in Kiev.

And just like that, Vladamir Klitschko's hopes of one day becoming the reigning heavyweight champion alongside his brother were all but over. He WAS just a Great White Hype after all. HBO broadcaster Roy Jones Jr. seemed delighted in summing up the fight, and put it best when he said, "It's not his chin. It's his heart."

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In the undercard, Corey Spinks and Zab Judah looked so evenly matched during the first half of the fight that the southpaws looked like mirror images of each other. The stronger and quicker Judah only put on a pound to weigh 147, while Spinks, who is more comfortable at fighting at welterweight anyway, put on ten. This may have been the difference in the fight as Spinks was the aggressor and actually scored a flash knockdown in the 11th round when Judah was off-balanced. Judah returned the favour in the 12th and final round, and seemed to legitimately hurt Spinks, but it was too little, too late. Spinks won a unanimous decision, and Judah blew another golden opportunity.

Perhaps smoking weed with Ludacris on his yacht has made him too complacent.

© 2004 Aaron Bayley