An aging fighter who is approaching 40 years old, Vitali Klitschko said this past week that when the time comes he will truly know when to retire from boxing.
"I'm in great shape, and I am in great form. If I feel that I don't have it left anymore, I will announce my retirement. But not yet," said Klitschko, adding that Saturday night's performance in defense of his heavyweight World Boxing Council championship against Cris Arreola would go a long way toward determining his decision.
"The best answer is to come on Sept. 26," Klitschko said. "Let's see and compare -- 28-year-old Cris Arreola or 38-year-old Vitali Klitschko? Who seems to be the younger one? Who seems to be in the better condition? Who is better technically? In the end, did I look old, or not?"
Klitschko (38-2) emphatically answered his own questions with a vigorously youthful, lopsided knockout -- the 37th of his career -- over Arreola (27-1, 24 knockouts), ending the Riverside, Calif., native's previously unbeaten streak and retaining his World Boxing Council heavyweight title with his second defense.
While turning in perhaps the most effective performance of his championship career, Klitschko silenced Arreola's partisan fans that made up the crowd of 14,556 during his third appearance at Los Angeles' Staples Center.
Klitschko peppered Arreola with his jab, blasted him with left hooks, right hands and right uppercuts, and bloodied his nose and mouth to the point where referee Jon Schorle had seen enough and waved an end to their bout with Arreola still on his stool between the 10th and 11th rounds.
"First of all, I want to say thank you very much to Cris Arreola. He's a very good, tough fighter. [Someday] he will be a heavyweight champion of the world," said Klitschko, who weighed in at a chisled yet career-high 252 pounds to Arreola's blubbery 251 pounds.
"It's never easy. You have to give your best. Cris Arreola had his chance. He gave a great performance," said Klitschko, nicknamed "Dr. Ironfist."
"I was very surprised. He has a great chin," said Klitschko, who out-landed Arreola, 301-to-86 overall. "Actually, after the right hook, many of my opponents go to the floor. But he was still standing. Big respect."
Arreola was attempting to become the first fighter of Mexican decent to hold the division's crown, and only the second-ever Latino to do so. Boston's John Ruiz, a Puerto Rican American, was the first Latino titlist, holding the World Boxing Association title in 2005.
No American-born heavyweight has been champ since 2007, when Shannon Briggs was briefly World Boxing Organization king. In 2006, Hasim Rahman was the the WBC champion, and Chris Byrd was the International Boxing Federation titlist.
"I'm sorry to everybody, man. I really wanted to win the heavyweight championship. And I worked my [butt] off," a tearful Arreola said after the fight.
"Vitali's a strong (guy). He hits hard. But I never wanted to quit, man. That's never in me. I didn't want to quit," Arreola continued. "I wanted to go the full 12 rounds. I'm sorry guys."
In retaining his title against the 6-foot-4 Arreola, the 6-foot-8 Klitschko remained one of the division's four world champions who hail from the former U.S.S.R.
The others are 7-foot Nicolay Valuev, who holds the WBA title, and Klitschko's younger brother, 6-7 Wladimir Klitschko, 33, owner of the WBO and IBF crowns.
The Klitschkos have vowed never to fight each other, but it appears as if fans may be increasingly demanding what could be a megabout between the two.
Arreola had promised to use head movement and his general boxing skills to carry the fight to his taller, more rangy opponent.
But "The Nightmare" could not deliver on his dream strategy.
"I couldn't get to him. He was fighting the fight that he was supposed to fight, and he ran when he was supposed to run. I just couldn't get to him, man," Arreola said. "Whatever I did, he just found a way to counteract that. He just found a way to win and I found a way to lose."
Klitschko imposed his customary method of fighting tall -- using his powerful jab as a range-finder and slinging home the right hand from a distance.
"I was very surprised. I had good movement. And all of my left jabs went to the head," Klitschko said. "I had very good preparation using the left jab."
Klitschko won the crown by an eighth-round knockout over Samuel Peter in October, a victory that marked his return from a nearly four-year long, injury-induced retirement.
Klitschko retired in November of 2005 citing back problems and a torn meniscus in his right knee and canceling a scheduled defense against Rahman.
But as feeble as his leg was supposed to be, Klitscho still is standing, resolute, and, seemingly, peerless for the moment.
"I'm 38. I'm not the youngest of the heavyweights. But I don't want to break the record of George Foreman," said Klitschko, referring to Foreman having been the eldest man to hold a heavyweight title at 45.
According to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, Klitschko's handlers already are working on a deal to fight in a December meeting in Germany against Atlanta's 30-year-old Kevin Johnson (22-0-1, nine KOs).
A Los Angeles resident who is married with three children, Klitschko's defense marked only the sixth time he has fought in America.
Klitschko's last bout on American soil was an eighth-round knockout of Mike Tyson-conqueror Danny Williams of England in Las Vegas in December of 2004.
Klitschko won his first crown -- the WBO version -- with a June 1999, second-round knockout of Herbie Hide.
"I feel now, very good," Klitschko said. "I feel now like I'm only 25."
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
vitali fought a very smart fight. he fought the fight he needed to fight to win. he deserves all the credit in the world for his win. boxing is about hitting and not being hit. it is bad that vitali's way of not getting hit was to many times literally run away from cris. it sure makes it hard to get with a heavy weight champ that wins a title fight while the whole fight running away. i guess that is why his is not more popular. the running away aside he fought a great technical fight.
Three words my friend. Stick and move! Clearly you must be the greatest internet athleat that ever typed.How can you critsize that performance when Vitali landed more than 3 punches to Arreola's one while "running away", as you say. Get real!Its not like he landed one lucky shot after running away for 10 rounds. I want to see more talent in the heavy weight division as well. I think the K.O. bros. are getting bored.Wslj2 why dont you come clean with everyone Tell us all what your real ajenda is.You will get more respect for being honest!
there's a reason that there is no american heavyweight champion ..... klitschko . ain't an american boxer up to the task , i want to see that scrawney david haye give it a try . i'd love to see klitschko knock the taste out of his mouth.
When are we going to finally realize that The Klitschko's are an amazing story. Boxing is dying and nobody wants to write about 2 brothers who own world heavyweight championships. Their educated and tremendous boxers. Is it because their not american and their white that we cant accept them? How long will it take for them to get recognition. There isn't any writeups on their fights and these are heavyweight championship fights. Come on what's wrong with you guys, wake up and maybe this will wake up boxing. Lets see articles on the Klitschko's and help promote boxing. There's a big story here start writing about it.
Because they suck...and they know full well that any of the real heavyweights over the past would have knocked them out in one round. That fight was like watching the Special Olympics...If I wanted to watch boxers dance around the ring tapping each other I would have watched a some lightweights, they do it much better. Heavyweights are "supposed" (hasnt happened in years, hmm wonder why) to make the big bucks because they deliver the big hits that are so popular with the masses. If you want to go play a sport thats about the individual try gold, but if youre going to box, specially as a heavyweight, you are only there to please the spectator...we give you money, you entertain us..thats what boxing is..Thats why the Klitchkos will never gain any mass recognition and will be forgotten in the annals of boxing...the masses don't want to see a 250 pound man dancing around the ring..they want to see him use explosive power to hammer his opponent down with conviction...instead we get a big Eastern European running around like a little freaking fairy...disgusting.
It wasn't running away from him, it's called movement. It's not something big fat American heavyweights do well. Klitschko moved around the ring, and Arreola chased him the whole fight. He could have backed off and made Klitschko come to him sometimes, but he wanted that fast pace. That it worked in Klitschko's favor shows how far out of his league Arreola is. Vitali outclassed him from start to finish.
I remember fights like Ali-Frazier, Holmes -Norton--Great heavyweight bouts. When I see crap like these 2 bums that fought Sat. night it only shows me that this division is in dyer need of someone with talent.
Let's see...Klitschko ran yet managed to outland Arreola by better than 3 to 1. Maybe it is time for people to admit that both brothers are head and shoulders above the rest of the division. Arreola was talked up as a skilled fighter, yet he was exposed as a fighter who had no idea how to cut off the ring. He could make no adjustment when Klitschko refused to stand and get hit like his previous victims.
Well said!
danielboruta i have no idea what you mean by come clean and tell my real agenda? are you talking about my agenda to take over the world from my hidden cave? i read where you said " my agenda " and laughed so hard i spit tea all over my key board. my agenda is to talk about boxing with people who love boxing because i love boxing and it has been a major part of my life since i was a very small child. if you read my original post i gave quitschko credit for winning. he deserved the win and he outboxed arreola. no one can deny that. that said in 09 what he did is excepted. if he had fought like that in the time of the real great heavy weights he would have been mocked laughed at and shamed out of boxing. marciano, farazier, schmeling,louis,dempsey fighters like these guys would rupture a gut laughing at the way quitschko fought. not one of those guys ever ran. against bigger men or harder punches they never ran. they never stuck and moved. they went out and took challengers out. you put any of those guys that i just named in a ring a street fight a bar fight and they would have still beaten anyone they fought. again quitschko deserved to win. but do you think if you took the gloves off of him and put him and arreola on the street he could still win. i for one dont think so. quitschko deserves to have his alphabet belt. quitschko is great at what he does. it is simply hard for me and many people to get with him because he is simply not tough. he doesnt have that champions heart that so many real heavyweight champions have had over the years. the bottom line is this. in a fight against chris byrd quitschko gave up. his corner didnt stop the fight. the ref didnt stop the fight in his corner he told them to stop the fight. he quit. HE QUIT. he was ahead on all score cards. he was fighting a man half his size. a man who fought as a middle weight in the olympics while quitschko fought as a super heavy weight. all he had to do was hold on and move and the fight was his. there is no way byrd could have over powered him and knocked him out but he quit. there is not one heavy weight champion from this time or any other time that would have quit like that. i guess my agenda would be to keep thinking that we might have a real champion with a champions heart come along soon. it doesnt matter if he is black or white or gray or purple. it doesnt matter if he is from the u.s. or germany or russia or mexico or japan. a real champion that a boxing fan can look at and say what we used to be able to say. that he is the baddest man out there. that he would whip anyone. on the street in a ring in a bar. and more important then anything that he would be willing to die if that is what it took to either win or to retain his title.
the best knock-out ratio belongs to a white man and people just can't handle that . if a black guy , say floyd mayweather " runs " around his opponent and fights on his own terms it " good defense " and when this white man does the same thing it's boring and running away , what does that tell you ?
The sad matter is that NO ONE will defeat Klitchko with the style of boxing he showed. Anyone trying to beat him will have to find a way through that wall. Klitchko fights in a comfort zone that needs to be torn down, hands down to his sides, away from his opponents, to use that distance to his advantage. If the opponent found a way to penetrate that obstacle, he might have a chance. Chris failed to see the way Klitchko has always used that distance and height. It was obvious he tried to penetrate, but whenever he got close enough, he was tied up or separated by the ref, not to mention he had to contend with the height Klitchko uses very well to his advantage. Back to the drawing board Chris, there's no sense in crying over spilled milk. It just wasn't Arreola's day/night. Klitchko's experience defeated Arreola's inexperience. Klitchko's defense, defeated Arreola's eagerness and overzealousness. Chris unfortunately underestimated Klitchko's style and undoubtedly thought it'd be much easier to get inside and pound at the Russian giant. The Klitchkos own the majority of the heavyweight division, they have a monopoly on it that took them a while to obtain. They're not going to just give it up to the first young man to step up. You have to study and work to get it - and disappearing for 10 days to play as hard as you work is not the way to do it. In my simple opinion, Chris Arreola didn't take this as serious as he thought he was taking it. Some boxers might smoke weed, and he may think he could drink a beer because of that; but NO. He also failed to see that this was a championship fight and if you're fighting the champion, you have to take that title from him or the judges are going to let that champ walk away with his belt regardless of whether he won it or not [you cannot leave it to the judges], but if you do, you'd better be sure you've been definitive and convincing enough to move the judges' hands even if not their opinions. The champ is the owner of the belt and if you don't take it from him, it's not going to be handed to you because you thought you worked hard enough to get it. Chris has been in boxing long enough to know how things work even if you think you've succeeded. My advice no matter how limited; "Quit the crying, get back to the gym and work for the next one. Remember, there're 2 more champions who you can go after. 2 more chances, 1 of which can be a potential victory. You're only 28, there will be many disappointments down the road and if you waste all your tears on this one, you're going to be dry by the time you're 30. Get back to work, check your mistakes, check the opponent's and capitalize on both...
Nice to see that tattooed crying gangster get the taco's beat out of him. Was FANTASTIC to see him go down like the punk he is! All those words in the HBO interview clearly represents his uneducated likes. It was a great night!
Damn tattooed piece of crying crap. Was FANTASTIC to see him go down like the punk he is! All those words in the HBO interview clearly represents his uneducated likes.It was a GREAT NIGHT! haha!
Yes Tony, it is about time they know!
I have been watching boxing for over 30 years. The Klitschko are nothing special as many of you are painting them out to be. They are 'average' fighters at best in a era where there is no potential threats other then possibly fighting each other. ANY real follower of boxing knew when the fight was made that arreola was no threat. JERRY COONEY and JERRY QUARRY were better fighters then both the Klitschko brothers and arreaola.
The Klitschko's are bums and ANYONE who follows boxing knows it. Both those guys will be forgotten when its over for them and will be lost in the anals of boxing history as average heavyweight fighters who fought in a era when there was no one to fight.They will not be thought of like ALI, HOLYFIELD, TYSON, HOLMES, FRAZIER,FOREMAN and believe me the list goes on and on so please stop writing like they are the best thing going since sliced bread. "INIBAS1" there is NO big story to write and believe me the Klitschkos are not going to save boxing. Half you turds are writing like you just finished watching the ALI FRAZIER fight or the HOLYFIELD BOWE fight what a joke some of you people are especailly talking about how his style is hard to beat and how your amazed at thier story and the idiot "PITO" is writing like he is talking to arreola directly like if he was in the corner arreola would have won with his little pep talk what a bunch of morons. Some of you people watch to many ROCKY movies.
goldcrow66 you made some great points i agree 100% with you. dont forget george chuvalo. even though he was a top ten heavyweight in his time with the heart he had he would have beaten either one of the klitschkos and could have taken a ten minute break then beat the other one.
The American heavyweights need to be trained by either Ali,Holmes,Tyson,Holyfield or Big George. As a lot (including the meatball Cris Arreola) their fundamentals are non existent. Kevin Johnson who does have a very nice Larry Holmes type of jab, has very little power behind that jab.Lets face it,Americans in general went into other higher paying sports like Basketball,Football,Baseball.Even MMA is attracting a wider audience than boxing. The Eastern Europeans and in general the old Soviet block is proving that the methods they used to train and make a more hardened serious dilligent fighter are paying off, in their dominance of boxing in this day and age. From men like the Klitsckos to Kostya Zoo to Valeuv,Chagaev,they are holding boxing in their stranglehold. Sly Stone in Rocky had to fight Ivan Drago the Russian super strong monster, Vitali and Wlad come from that same tireless,workman like atmosphere that the Soviets pushed on their athletes. Maybe we as Americans have lost sight or interest in boxing,but when Dempsey,Louis,Marciano,Liston,Ali,Frazier,Foreman,Holmes,Tyson,Holyfield had the title,we all had a strong interest in the game. The Klitsckos have a fighting style that is not pretty to watch,however they get the job done,and do seem to stop anybody and everyone in their way. Arreola was/is a meatball with very little technical skills,he was only there as a punching bag.Vitali and Wlad will hold the K.O ratio over all hwts past and present,but somehow when they fight you never think you're seeing the greatest K.O artists in hwt history.Where is Big George or Tyson now that we need spicing up the game?
lmao, Tyson in his prime would have stepped into the ring and knocked both those guys out in one round. These guys lack the explosive power of true heavyweights. There is a reason why only the lighter divisions can use that elusive style of fighting and keep their hands down, if you take a punch from a heavyweight while your hands are down, you are going to feel it. If I want to watch guys tap at each others faces round after round, I'll watch some light weights. No one wants to see a 250 pound man run around the ring, thats why Klitcko will never make the big bucks or get any respect, because he deserves neither..none of the heavyweights today do...Lennox was a watered down Heavyweight, but even he wasnt as sad as this current crop...
notice ever since the White Russians started dominating the heavyweight division the press trys hard to ignore them. why??