BOXING
Klitschko ready to take the next step
By Lyle Fitzsimmons, Boxing Analyst
New York, NY (Sports Network) - The last time Wladimir Klitschko prepared to face an unbeaten and highly touted new trailblazer in the heavyweight division, the pre-fight vibe sounded a whole lot different.
Counting down to the Kazakhstan native's meeting with African knockout artist Samuel Peter in September 2005, the questions centered mainly on what round - and from what punch - the over-hyped 6-foot-6 giant would tumble.
As it turned out - though he did tumble three times - Klitschko spent the majority of the bout both giving the raw Peter a boxing lesson and providing his brethren a blueprint for mirroring his decisive and unanimous scorecard triumph.
The best kostenlos roulette spielen online .A seven-round blowout of Chris Byrd seven months later further stoked the suddenly pro-Klitschko fires, so much so that Saturday's IBF title showdown with American contender Calvin Brock (29-0, 22) at Madison Square Garden is now being presented as a chance for the 30-year-old, now 46-3 with 41 KOs, to cement his standing as the division's latest czar.
In fact, the only one who seems less-than-awed lately is Klitschko himself.
"My goal is to become a champion. I don't feel myself as a champion of the world, but right now I do hold this title," he said. "There (are) three other guys holding belts. So, this is all about experience to be a complete person in sports. It not only helps me hold my own in my sports career, it helped me to be a complete person in my private life."
Klitschko's prospects for meaningful heavyweight recognition - personally acknowledged or not - seemed fleeting after a thudding series of very public in-ring failures in a six-year stretch between his initial rise to prominence and the more recent widespread acclaim.
His 24-fight career-starting win streak was snapped with an 11th-round TKO at the hands of 13-loss journeyman Ross Puritty in December 1998, though he admirably rebounded from the untimely blemish with 16 straight wins, including a successful WBO title challenge and five subsequent defenses by stoppage.
That run ended with a two-round TKO loss to similarly unheralded South African veteran Corrie Sanders in March 2003, a title-surrendering collapse that was followed just three fights later by another stunner, this time via fifth- round TKO to Lamon Brewster for the by-then vacant WBO belt at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in April 2004.
At that point, unlike older brother Vitali - whose career stock rose dramatically following his game performance in a gory stoppage loss to Lennox Lewis - the perception of Wladimir was one of front-running slugger with faulty stamina, questionable determination and a balky chin.
Still, in spite of the travails, the former Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist from the 1996 Games in Atlanta remained his own biggest, and perhaps only, fan.
"They just want to (talk about) the first time I really got hurt from Corrie Sanders in the fight and it actually was an experience for me in my entire sports life," said Klitschko, who earned a doctoral degree in sport science from the University of Kiev in 2001.
"As a football player, basketball player, whatever team sports or even tennis, you can win, you can lose the next day, and you can win the game the day after. Boxing is a little bit different. Each loss really takes you back, but you have to be tough enough to analyze what were your mistakes and just get back and accomplish the goal."
Consecutive defeats of DaVarryl Williamson (TD 5) and Eliseo Castillo (TKO 4) got the thrice-wounded "Dr. Steelhammer" back on the radar and into the crossroads match with Peter that was billed as an elimination bout for the IBF title then held by Byrd.
Klitschko swept all three scorecards by comfortable 114-111 counts in spite of the three knockdowns, then completed the unlikely comeback with a complete destruction of the incumbent champion at a jam-packed SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany.
In Brock, he meets a foe who's shown a variety of skills in a precipitous ladder climb - including an off-the-canvas unanimous decision over Jameel McCline on the Margarito-Cintron undercard in April 2005 and a violent one- punch KO of Zuri Lawrence as a co-feature to Mosley-Vargas I last February.
"We have looked at him to be a balanced and very good technical fighter, not exceptional in one area, but he has good balanced techniques in all of the punches," said Emanuel Steward, Klitschko's lead trainer. "They are going to see he doesn't get hit too easily.
"The defense is very good and, as Wladimir says, he has a very good amateur background and his stamina is very good. It's going to be an interesting fight and I am very excited about it and we are looking for a very tough opponent that's going to be dangerous all the way until the fight is over."
11/09 11:21:38 ET