Two years ago, the youngest of the Klitschko brothers earned the nickname Crystal Chin in a boxing environment. KO defeats from South African Corrie Sanders and American Lamon Brewster nearly put an end to his career. However, Vladimir and his coach Emanuel Steward found the strength to return to the throne. Properly selecting opponents from among second-rate fighters, the mentor led Vladimir to the top. The lucky ball fell in April when the IBF played the vacant world title in Germany and Klitschko in the seventh round not only knocked out Chris Byrd, but also gave analysts an excuse to talk about the “Slavic invasion” in the most prestigious weight category. Fans froze in anticipation of fights for the title of absolute champion among the “heavyweight”. However, all summer and most of the fall, the pets of the national boxing school only exchanged loud statements about their own greatness, not one step closer to unifying fights. Not the last role in this was played by the laws of big business. Overseas matches with the participation of ex-Soviet champions are not of interest to anyone. Black America longs for the return of its heavyweights to the podium.
The first alarm bell rang a week ago. Shannon Briggs knocked out Belarusian Sergey Lyakhovich in the fight for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion title and made the United States believe in "American heavyweight counterattack." The long-awaited victory of Kelvin Brock over Wladimir Klitschko was to consolidate the success and confirm the emerging trend. During a press conference on the eve of the battle, Brock promised to crack down on the champion. “Expect a great fight, which will become one of the main chapters of history and boxing textbooks,” the applicant said. Klitschko Jr. in response expressed his admiration for defending his champion title at the famous Madison Square Garden arena, where the legendary former heavyweights Rocky Marciano, Joe Louis, Mohammed Ali and many others fought. At the weighing ceremony, the arrow of the scales near Klitschko stopped at 109.3 kg, Brock “pulled” by 101.8 kg.
The start of the match, which was watched by 14.5 thousand spectators in the stands of the palace and millions on the TV screens, was inconspicuous: the two-meter Klitschko met the squat opponent with direct blows, preventing him from shortening the distance. And when Brock still managed to go to close combat, the champion went to the clinch. With the weight of his body he leaned on the American, hugged his neck and knocked out his breath. The audience whistled, the referee tore the grip and urged the boxers to act more actively. Apparently, Klitschko's slurred tactics euthanized Brock. He went ahead, delivered several powerful blows to the corps, and in the sixth round, he accidentally cut Vladimir's head with an eyebrow. A dangerous injury mobilized Klitschko. In the seventh round, he carried out an attack called in boxing language “deuce”: powerful direct punches with his left and right hands dropped the challenger to the floor. Kelvin found the strength to stand up, but his dim eyes showed the referee Wayne Kelly that the American did not have the strength to continue the fight. The judge recorded the first defeat in Brock's career, and for Klitschko the successful defense of the title turned out to be twice anniversary. Ten years ago, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic champion began his professional career, and the duel in New York was 50th on his track record of 47 victories. Immediately after defeating Brock, he declared: “I am ready to fight the champion in any other version. With someone who dares to challenge me,” transparently hinting at the Russian giant Nikolai Valuev. And he promised to give 250 thousand dollars from the sale of tickets to Namibia for the implementation of the UNESCO project "Education for children in need."
Boris TITOV