Who Will Step Up To the Plate?
by Gabriel Montoya (Oct 13, 2006)
The Beast From The East has arrived in America, and while the fight was not the most exciting of the night’s four televised bouts, the implications of Nicolay Valuev’s 45th win (against 0 losses) are certainly the most interesting. It is safe to say that he is not the fastest of the four heavyweight titlists, or the hardest puncher, or the one possessed of the most diverse arsenal. But his patience, intelligence, and sheer size make him an intriguing horse in the slow dance that is the race to unify the heavyweight crown. The fact that he is the only undefeated titleholder makes him an even sweeter win. So who will it be? Who will step up to the sizable plate of Nicolay Valuev? Which man that wants to be called ‘Undisputed’ will be the one to put an ‘L’ where there is now a ‘0’?
At first glance, Wlad Klitschko seems the obvious choice. At a reported 6’7", he is the closest in height to Valuev, and possesses an arsenal of combinations that is rivaled only by my dark horse pick, Serguei Lyakhovich. Klitschko seems the most able to handle the physicality that Valuev brings to the table. The jab seems to be a key to beating Valuev as well,
and Wlad has the best jab in the division. Now the knocks on Wlad are his stamina and his chin. He has been stopped three times, though to be fair, one of those was a corner stoppage because Wlad had punched himself out. Valuev, as I have stated, is not a power puncher, but the repeated right hands that would land as Wlad tires could get something done. However, the pace at which Valuev fights (think molasses) is to Klitschko’s advantage, as he is fighting at a more measured pace under Manny Steward’s tutelage. The biggest knock against Wlad in terms of recent performances is that while he did get across the finish line against Sam Peter, he had to crawl across it. Yes, he dominated Chris Byrd, but how will Klitschko deal with a man bigger and heavier than himself? How will he deal with a man infinitely more physical than the rough-and-ready Peter? Klitschko in my opinion has the best chance to outbox and eventually KO Valuev, but it will take his best performance to date to do it.
What Serguei Lyakhovich showed when he defeated Klitschko's conqueror Lamon Brewster was tenacity under intense fire. He gave better than he got for the majority of the rounds, and no matter how tired or rocked by Brewster’s shots, he kept executing his game plan. I question whether Lyakhovich can manhandle Valuev, but at the same time, I question whether that is the way to beat him. Larry Donald boxed his way to a disputed decision loss to Valuev just one year ago. And if Larry can do it, I firmly believe Serguei can as well, and escape with the win. Lyakhovich has excellent wheels and is every bit as agile as Klitschko. He has a battle tested chin, good stamina, and heavy hands, but not of one-punch knockout artist proportions. His is more of a thudding power as opposed to the accurate dynamite shots of Klitschko. If Lyakhovich can sustain and maintain a boxing match rather than a power-shot festival, I give him a very good shot at pulling off the upset.
Now I realize that Sam Peter is not a titleholder, but he is set to fight Maskaev should he win his proposed rematch with James Toney and get on the dance card with Oleg Maskaev (two fights I pick Peter to win). Peter is an interesting proposition against Valuev. Like Klitschko, he has stamina issues in my opinion. He possesses raw strength and power, but an unrefined game. It is safe to say that Valuev throws straighter shots than Peter. However, watching the Barrett fight, something emerged in my mind – Barrett kept landing his wide, looping right hand. The punch was thrown at an unnatural angle for him, but still landed. A wide, looping right throw over the top is Peter’s money punch. It carries power, even though from that angle it shouldn’t. Could Peter be tailor made to KO the Russian giant? It’s possible. He does have the tenacity and killer instinct, and his chin only wilted late against Wladimir Klitschko. I give Peter more than a puncher’s chance in this one. I doubt he can outbox Valuev traditionally, but he can out-hustle him, and depending on if Valuev can take his shot, just might be able to get him out there early.
Oleg Maskaev may be a better-schooled technician than Valuev and have heavier hands, but his chin is suspect and at his age, I don’t think he is looking to climb the unification mountain. Maskaev would have to try and one-two his way in, and alter the path of his right hand to adjust for height, thereby negating its power. He's an excellent counter-puncher, and may be able to outsmart the slow Russian in a slow-dance-and-clinch, but I don’t think he will be around as a titlist long enough to get a match with Valuev.
Who Wins?
As always, that question comes down at least in part to the third man in the ring. It will be up to him to dictate the geography of the fight. If the ref allows the fight to follow the pattern of Valuev’s Ruiz or Barrett fights, with Valuev allowed to clinch whenever his opponent gets inside to work, then Valuev could break heavyweight Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record. Jay Nady or Randy Neumann might be good choices for anyone looking to negate that tactic. If, say, Steve ‘Let ‘em Fight Come Hell Or High Water’ Smoger is running the show, then Valuev might be able to get away with some of his grappling moves. Smoger is a ref known for letting the combatants fight, and that could work to both Valuev's and Peter’s advantage. In boxing, though, nothing is predictable. One punch can change everything. With all three of the abovementioned titlists scheduled to fight by the end of the year against various levels of opposition, it looks like we won’t know the answers to any of the questions posed here until sometime in 2007.
There are some that will stay within the confines of their previous opinions of Valuev now that they have seen an HBO broadcast of him. Surely, while Barrett had the warrior’s mentality (and the right idea in my opinion) in his attack of Valuev, the end result was a foregone conclusion from the time the ink hit the contract paper. To my eyes however, this introductory mismatch did show a bit more than a first glance suggests. Valuev in his patient, lumbering attack, reminded me a bit of Big George Foreman in the later years. He plodded forward behind a slow, thudding jab, and waited to either land the right behind it or to catch Barrett with it coming in. In between rounds ten and eleven, at which point Barrett’s legs were beginning to seriously betray him, Valuev’s corner yelled at him to stop fighting “like an actor”, triple the jab, and come with the right. Valuev, showing the ability to remain poised and take his corner’s advice, did just that. His right hand, while not possessing the unearthly power of a natural-born power puncher, is still lethal in its own right. The beginning-of-the-end punch swung around like a wrecking ball and came down in a vicious arc at the last possible second, with stunning results. It didn't have the most snap, but with that much of an arc to travel over, does it matter? There are many who will say that Valuev wouldn’t be in the game if he weren’t that huge, but can’t you say the same thing about Shaq? Take away any fighters’ greatest asset and they would have problems. Like Shaq, Valuev is an anomaly and will be refereed differently from fight to fight. The things that normal sized boxers do that are taken for granted (holding an opponents head down, clinching) are magnified because of Valeuv’s size. That said, any of the above match-ups would be entertaining as hell, and while I think the crowd will always root against Goliath, they certainly weren’t complaining when he finally got Barrett out of there. Like it or not, boxing purists, Nicolay Valuev, the world’s most intriguing current heavyweight, is here to stay until someone steps up and takes his 0 away.
Klitschko Side Note
At the Peter/Toney post-fight conference, I questioned Wladimir Klitschko's manager Shelly Finkel as to why Wladimir was ducking Lyakhovich. A standard "this isn't the place to answer that" was given, and Finkel quickly left the podium. But after Don King went on a tirade to answer my question, stating, "Because he has no chin and no heart." Finkel returned to the podium and said he had an interest in signing a Klitschko/Valuev match on the spot. They were interrupted by the arrival of Sam Peter, but I find it interesting that Finkel would jump at a chance at Valuev over Lyakhovich.
Stop the Fight!
Referee John O'Brien was dangerously negligent in not stopping Valuev/Barrett sooner. It appears that somewhere in the fight, Barrett decided that going the distance was enough for him. As I said before the fight, Barrett was going to go out with ‘Two Gunz’ blazing, and he tried to. Don King said afterwards, "Monte fought a great fight. This was the best I have ever seen him fight." But after the two knockdowns in the eleventh, it was clear that although he didn't want to continue, neither did he want to be the one to pull the plug. Props to Barrett's corner for saving him from both Valuev and O'Brien.
Adamek-Briggs II – Electric Boogaloo
Adamek/Briggs was easily a fight-of-the-year candidate. With Adamek establishing the jab from the outset and then getting dropped after the first minute, you knew this had instant classic written all over it. This was how they used to do it, with each fighter trying at all costs to impose his will on the other from bell to bell. Each fighter's strengths and weaknesses perfectly complemented the other's to create the perfect recipe for a beautifully brutal twelve-round war. Here's hoping we see these two warriors again, but against different opponents. Perhaps they can go and collect the 175-lb belts and meet again in a unification bout. For now, their point is proven. When these two match up, expect fireworks. Hopefully HBO will give them both the attention they deserve.
Darchinyan-Donaire
Somebody please get Vic Darchinyan a match-up with Jorge Arce soon. This guy is everything ‘The Prisoner’ Naseem Hamed should have been, completely unorthodox in every way from his southpaw stance to the way he changes up his attack. The difference is, he is disciplined in his attack. Once called a wild, slugging brawler, Darchinyan has evolved into something far more interesting. His fight this weekend against Glenn Donaire was the most entertaining one-sided beatdown I have seen in some time. Every time Donaire began to time Darchinyan, the clever southpaw power-puncher used his lead right in a new way, pawing with and extending it ala Kostya Tszyu, or simply attacking with both fists deadly accurate. I am going out on a limb here and saying that Darchinyan knocks out Arce in a fight-of-the-year candidate in 2007.
Corrales-Casamayor III
The drama was drained from this fight the moment that ‘Chico’ Corrales failed to make weight. This bout, which many thought would solidify the underrated trilogy between these two as an all-time classic, was, simply put, a dud. Corrales proved that he had indeed killed himself making weight by looking doughy and sluggish, and Casamayor didn't take advantage of the situation like I thought he would. Instead, he was content to pick at a weak and slow-looking Corrales, like a vulture, en route to a split-decision victory. Corrales says IF he fights on, it will be at 147. Good for him and for us. With match-ups like Cintron, Cotto, Margarito, Collazo, and Quintana possible, adding a warrior like Corrales to the mix could make things even hotter in one of boxing's deepest divisions.
Jeff Lacy Update
Jeff Lacy responded to recent comments from Yusaf Mack that Lacy and his team were ducking him. An offer had been made from Team Lacy but as ‘Left Hook‘ put it, “HBO turned Mack down. Trust me, I wanted to fight him.” As for whom Lacy will face next, the search goes on. A possible future opponent could be Allan Green but Lacy feels the time isn’t right just yet. “Allan is on the hot list but I want him to keep making himself a bigger name so it could be a headline. He's not there yet. He got floored and if it wasn't in his hometown he would have been knocked out that night. He needs to keep building his name for it to be a headline fight.” More details to come.
