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Emanuel Steward Says Wladimir Klitschko Will Be In The Hall Of Fame One Day - Just Like Lennox Lewis


by James Slater
June 18, 2009

- As fans know, former heavyweight king Lennox Lewis has just been inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame in Canastota. It could certainly be argued that had Lewis never been trained by Emanuel Steward - who is also enshrined in The Hall - he wouldn't have got there. Seeing Emanuel take over as his coach after being shocked inside two-rounds in a upset against Oliver McCall, Lennox went on to score his most impressive victories..

Today, Steward trains the man who is seen as the best big man in the sport, in Wladimir Klitschko, and Emanuel says he sees plenty of similarities between Klitschko and Lewis. Steward also says the very same negativity Lewis had to listen to from the critics is what those people who are turned off by Wladimir are saying about him today.

"We had the same criticisms of Lennox that we get now with Wladimir," Steward told The Times newspaper. "There are a lot of similarities between the two. They are only as good as the guys put in front of them let them be. Americans have given up on the heavyweights because they don't dominate it, but I think they are coming round to Wladimir now.

"Vitali's fight with Lennox made him a big, big hero there. Wladimir has not had that fight yet. He needs some devastating performances."

Perhaps the current IBF and WBO champion will put on such a devastating display against Ruslan Chagaev this Saturday, and win himself the vacant Ring magazine belt that is at stake. Steward has complete faith in his fighter, and he says he is sure Wladimir will one day be inducted into The Hall; following Lewis' footsteps.

"It was great to see that for Lennox," Emanuel said with reference to Lennox's recent induction. "I have no doubt Wladimir will be in there one day. Like Lennox, Wladimir is very intelligent and a lot of the time we just talk. He used to make the same mistakes, but I think he is the complete fighter right now.

"He's been stopped, he's been knocked down. But he's learnt how to clinch, how to survive. If everything is sunny all the time, you don't learn until it rains one day. When I was with Lennox, I told him Wladimir would dominate the heavyweight division one day."

At the moment, Wladimir must share the distinction of dominating the division with his WBC heavyweight champion brother, Vitali. But as those two will never fight (or at least we don't think they ever will) Wladimir must continue to rule the weight class as part of a duo. Of course, unbeaten Ruslan Chagaev will have something to say about it when it comes to who is the world's best big man, and his chances of spoiling both Steward and Klitschko's plans cannot be ruled out.

If he keeps winning, though, maybe Wladimir will soon get the respect it took Lennox Lewis such a long time to get.

Klitschko free to fight foe of his choice

By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com


Vitali Klitschko is free to make an optional defense of the WBC heavyweight _title_ rather than be forced into a mandatory defense against former titlist Oleg Maskaev after the Swiss-_base_d Court of Arbitration for Sport sided with him in binding arbitration on Friday.

"We won the case. Vitali doesn't have to fight Maskaev," Klitschko advisor Shelly Finkel told ESPN.com from Germany, where he is attending brother Wladimir Klitschko's defense of his version of the _title_ against Ruslan Chagaev on Saturday. "It gives us the opportunity to fight anyone we want. Vitali is a very happy person right now."

After two days of hearings last week and closing statements on Monday, the CAS ruled Friday.



We won the case. Vitali doesn't have to fight Maskaev. It gives us the opportunity to fight anyone we want. Vitali is a very happy person right now.
” -- Vitali Klitschko advisor Shelly Finkel

Although details of the ruling were not released under terms of the settlement, the CAS issued a statement on the case saying, "While the WBC acted in good faith in issuing the order of Dec. 15, 2008, such order, naming Oleg Maskaev as the next mandatory challenger for the WBC world championship in the heavyweight division, exceeded the scope of the WBC's authority... and, for that reason, cannot be enforced against Vitali Klitschko."

"We are absolutely happy," attorney Bruce J. Zabarauskas of Crowell & Moring, which represented Klitschko, told ESPN.com. "We think the arbitrator made the correct decision. We were confident when we commenced the action that we would prevail."

Klitschko returned from a nearly four-year retirement to stop Samuel Peter in October to regain the _title_ and made his first defense March 21 against mandatory challenger Juan Carlos Gomez, knocking him out in the ninth round.

Even before that bout, the WBC had ordered that the winner of Klitschko-Gomez must face Maskaev next. That ruling was made even though Maskaev was a dubious mandatory challenger. He was not the WBC's No. 1-ranked fighter, he had been knocked out by Peter in the sixth round of a lopsided fight to lose the _title_ in March 2008, and his two wins since that loss had come against extraordinarily weak opposition.

Still, the WBC mandated Maskaev get a shot at the winner, to which Klitschko strongly _object_ed. Under the WBC's rules, Klitschko filed a protest in December and eventually his case against the WBC and Maskaev went to the CAS, the body such matters are referred to, under the WBC's rules, for binding arbitration.

The ruling opens the door for Klitschko to set up a fall _title_ defense against the opponent of his choice. One of the leading candidates is American Cris Arreola, whom Klitschko would fight in Los Angeles. It's a fight HBO has high interest in, and it's a match Arreola wants.

"We're ready to fight Klitschko, but it has to make business sense," Arreola promoter Dan Goossen said. "From the aspect of the fighting part, Arreola wants it, we want it, everyone wants it. On the other side of the coin, it has to make sense. It's a big, big fight."

The sides have talked about the possibility of the fight, but Goossen said they didn't negotiate while the case against the WBC and Maskaev played out.

Two other potential candidates are former cruiserweight champion David Haye of England, who was scheduled to fight Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday but withdrew a couple of weeks ago because of a back injury, and _title_holder Nikolai Valuev of Russia.

Michael Jackson Even Influenced Heavyweight Boxing
Scoop Malinowski on June 28th, 2009

Did a champion boxer ever choose a Michael Jackson song as his ring entrance music?

Believe it or not, one of history’s greatest musicians Michael Jackson, who touched all the world with his beautiful and inspiring music, did indeed have a song of his picked by a prizefighter involved in a world heavyweight championship fight.

Here’s a clue: The suddenly deceased Jackson once had a song of his selected as the ring entrance music for a combatant in a WBC world heavyweight championship fight held at Madison Square Garden.

The Michael Jackson song chosen was “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” which was from the “Off The Wall” album. The heavyweight fighter who entered the ring to that song was Kirk Johnson, before his ill-fated challenge against champ Vitali Klitschko in 2004.

Johnson got popped by the former and current WBC king Dr. Iron Fist in the second round.

'Sugar' Ray Leonard used the Michael Jackson song 'Bad' as ring entrance music.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=20909

A little something about Wladimir calling Steward up after the Chambers fight. And the small possibility that he could chose to lose a belt to face a more crowd pleasing opponent( Arreloa or further down the line after at least 1 mandatory Valuev)

Khan/Kotelnik: Andriy Kotelnik Inspired By The Klitschko Brothers

Andriy KotelnikWBA light-welterweight champion Andreas Kotelnik says he's been inspired by fellow countrymen Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko - and will emulate their punching power against Amir Khan. Kotelnik, who is good friends with the Klitschkos through their ties to the Ukraine, puts his WBA light-welterweight _title_ on the line against Khan on July 18 at the MEN Arena, Manchester. And he has vowed to finish the fight early in the manner of his country's most famous sportsmen. "Vitali and Wladimir are big boxing heroes of mine," said Kotelnik.

"The way they have made themselves the best in the heavyweight division by knocking out all their rivals is inspiring. But soon the Ukraine won't just have the best heavyweights in the world, but the best light-welterweight as well. Vitali and Wladimir's nicknames are Dr Ironfist and Dr Steelhammer, but when it comes to punching power I am The Professor. I've been studying tapes of their fights and I know why they punch so hard - and so will Amir Khan on July 18 once I have knocked him out..

"Then I'm going to America to clean up the rest of the division and become world number one.

"All the talk this week has been about Amir Khan against Ricky Hatton, but I'm going to beat Khan and then I'm going after Hatton, and I'll knock him out as well."