Klitschko vs. Klitschko? It might be up to mama

A battle between the brothers Klitschko would be possible but mama would have to approve.

She is a small lady, a one-time clerk and schoolteacher, sweet-natured and utterly devoted to her husband, Vladimir, and their two sons. She preferred to see her boys take music lessons than become involved in boxing and until recently she stayed away from the ringside but, ultimately, she gave both of them her blessing to pursue their dreams. No wonder, then, that Nadezhda Ulyanovna has never been seen as a major powerbroker in heavyweight boxing.

Yet it is only with her consent that Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko would ever entertain the thought of acquiescing to the clarion call for a boxing reproduction of Cain against Abel. Klitschko versus Klitschko would have the sport’s real powerbrokers salivating, though the brothers’ reluctance to even discuss this prospect through much of their careers is understandable. Boxing is not like tennis in which the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, habitually meet in Grand Slam finals, lick their wounds and then get on with their lives as if nothing happened. Fighters can be maimed and killed in their brutal, unforgiving arena and what man could live with the horror of having inflicted a fate so cruel on his brother?

But in the Austrian Alps near Kitzbuhel, at the very moment that Wladimir Klitschko was informed of challenger David Haye’s withdrawal from tomorrow’s scheduled title bout in Gelsenkirchen, Germany (within 48 hours Ruslan Chagaev was confirmed as his substitute opponent), he was in the middle of discussing the possibility of boxing his brother with a small group of British reporters. For many years both Klitschkos have refused to stray from the well-trodden line that they would never fight one another because their mother would never allow it. For once, however, Wladimir ventured off message.

“We would have to talk to our mother again,” he said. “We know how much interest this fight would create and it would mean that one of us would be the supreme heavyweight champion [The Ring ranks Wladimir and Vitali Nos. 1 and 2 in the world though tomorrow’s bout between Klitschko and Chagaev, who is No 3, will be for the vacant belt]. Of course our mother would not be happy. If we did fight, I would be very worried about the health of my brother because it would be very bloody and very bad. We are very competitive and it would be for real.

“I am the better technical boxer but he is stronger. It would be interesting.”

While he did not suggest that the bout is in the offing – and we must assume that Mama Klitschko would consider this one step too far despite her presence lately at the ringside – Wladimir went further than he or his brother have ever done before in relation to a possible match-up. Remember, this is a man who has described the feeling of just watching his brother box as the “bungee jump feeling.” They are so close that the last time Wladimir left the sanctuary of the dressing room to defend his titles against Hasim Rahman it was Vitali who sat next to him in those final moments when the younger brother acknowledges that “I do not feel butterflies in my stomach – it is more like flamingos flapping their wings inside me.” Big brother was the man allaying his fears and gently whispering words of encouragement.

Indeed, Vitali has always appeared to be the stronger brother psychologically as well as physically. Whereas Wladimir has crumbled in bouts against Ross Puritty (L TKO 11), Corrie Sanders (L TKO 2) and Lamon Brewster (L TKO 5), Vitali stood toe-to-toe for six rounds against Lennox Lewis with a cut so deep over his left eye that Lewis’s fists could have become embedded in it. Vitali did experience his own ‘no mas’ moment in April 2000 when he quit on his stool at the end of the ninth round against Chris Byrd but the shoulder injury which forced his withdrawal was so serious that surgeons told him he might have passed out with the pain had he fought on.

Certainly, it is impossible to envisage Vitali speaking these words articulated by Wladimir in the light of his devastating defeat by Brewster in 2004: “I was in the hell of boxing. Boxing News (the British boxing weekly paper) brought out a cover that showed me lying on the floor, with my face bloodied, beneath the headline, ‘Broken Man.’ I need to say thanks to those guys now, not just Boxing News but everybody who felt this way about me. But that cover, that image stayed in my mind. I knew I didn’t deserve it but I had to stop talking and just fight. This was the only worthwhile response. Talking doesn’t mean anything and, ultimately, neither do headlines. After words, you have to deliver action. Otherwise the words are empty, useless, a waste of your breath. Dead Man Walking, that’s what people outside were saying about me. I know this. Dead Man Walking.”

Klitschko’s unbeaten run since then – including a dominating display against Brewster in their 2007 rematch – has underlined the advancements he has made under Emanuel Steward, the trainer who oversaw a similar transformation in Lennox Lewis after his stunning knockout loss to Oliver McCall in 1995.

“We had the same criticisms of Lennox that we now get with Wladimir and I remember it well,” said Steward. “In my mind there are a lot of similarities between the two. They are only as good as the guys in front of them let them be. American fans have given up on the heavyweights because Americans no longer dominate the division it but I think they are coming round to Wladimir now.

“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 cut very badly, he’s been knocked down three times in one fight against Sam Peter which he still won. But he’s learned how to clinch, how to survive. If everything is sunny all the time, you don’t learn until it rains one day. Wladimir has learned a lot. You know, when I was with Lennox I told him Wladimir was going to dominate the heavyweight division one day. I knew he would. It would have been a really classic fight, Wladimir against Lennox, and I would have liked to have seen it without having to work the corners.

“As for Wladimir against Vitali, well, Vitali’s fight with Lennox made him a big, big hero and Wladimir has not had that fight yet. He needs some devastating performances, which he is capable of achieving. They are different kinds of fighters and, technically, Wladimir has advanced a great deal. All my heavyweights have been very technical. They have had big solid jabs, physically very strong, and they work their strength. Wladimir has even better balance than Lennox had. Lennox was explosive with the uppercut and if Lennox was in jeopardy in a fight he would run out and do what he had to do. What Wlad has is a great ability to control you. Wlad has an unbelievable jab and great balance and he does things easily and naturally now. His footwork is phenomenal. But champions are also made inside the head. Vitali has that inner resolve and now Wladimir has that, too.”

Haye, the British contender who hopes to get back into the title picture once he has recovered from the back injury he suffered a couple of weeks ago at his training camp in Cyprus, has an interesting perspective.

“Wladimir is the more natural athlete of the two,” Haye said. “For example, he would win a 100-meter race between the two of them because he’s faster. But Vitali is the tougher fighter and he’s proved this over the years. He’s stronger, too, but Wladimir has a lot more hand speed and his defense is better, though Vitali has the better chin. Wladimir is very gun shy whereas Vitali is not afraid to take two punches in order to hit his opponent with one. He slugged it out with Lennox Lewis and, although the cuts and injuries around his left eye caused his face to be in a mess, he was still there at the end of six rounds even though the doctor stopped it. Both guys are dangerous in their own right but, for me, I believe Vitali would be the easier opponent to beat now.

“When was the last time either of them had to fight a guy who was motivated, a guy who came to the ring in shape and hungry and showed the necessary will to win? The last time Wladimir faced this kind of opponent he got knocked out by Lamon Brewster and the last time for Vitali was against Lennox when he lost on cuts. The guys they have been fighting lately were not on the up, guys like Tony Thompson who brought no passion to his fight with Wladimir and Ray Austin who is a nonentity. Sam Peter was hopeless against Vitali, absolutely hopeless. He was fat, out of shape and his plan seemed to be to walk straight through Vitali’s punches. Most of these guys were petrified about facing the Klitschkos. If you watched Vitali’s fight against Juan Carlos Gomez closely, however, you could see that Vitali has slowed down a bit. Gomez was able to catch him surprisingly often in the first two rounds especially. Vitali’s getting older and Wladimir is still in his prime.”

Freddie Roach, boxing’s best trainer, has worked with both Klitschko brothers. Vitali was more stubborn and resistant to Roach’s refining touch but Wladimir and he worked well together before Steward took over in his corner. “I like Wladimir and I’ve always believed that he has great natural gifts as an athlete and, technically, he’s very good. Vitali is more his own man, kind of stuck in his ways in terms of his approach but he’s a real hard man, as he’s proved over the years. Wladimir has the ability to come out on top and by the end of his career I believe he will have achieved more than his brother.”

If he beats Chagaev tomorrow at the Veltins-Arena, Wladimir will emulate Vitali’s achievement of having won The Ring belt, which the elder Klitschko secured in 2004 when he avenged his brother’s defeat at the hands of Sanders. Deep down, however, Wladimir’s thoughts on this subject have probably not strayed far from the following sentiment which he expressed several years ago: “We just played a game of chess 12 hours ago against each other, the game was about two or two-and-one-half hours and the result was a draw. Vitali taught me how to play when I was 12. Growing up, I would always want to play against my teacher [Vitali]. Of course, playing the teacher was tough. I have had many dreams about beating my teacher but the teacher is tough. The teacher holds a slight edge.”

As far as boxing goes, however, Mama Klitschko will continue to hold her boys apart.