MIAMI- In what turned out to be yet another stepping stone in his mission to unify the Heavyweight division, Wladimir Klitschko (48W-3L, 43KO’s) destroyed Ray “The Rainman” Austin (24W-4L-4D, 16KO’s) inside of 2 rounds in Manheim, Germany. The mission for Klitschko was accomplished with a rapid fire of approximately 4 consecutive (albeit abbreviated), left hooks to get the job done and Austin would not respond as he hit the canvas and didn’t appear to want any more. Prior to that point Austin appeared to have good footwork and was working his angles but most felt from the beginning it would only be a matter of time. Literally all of the boxing world’s media felt this fight would not go the distance but few knew it would fail to last longer than the argument the two camps had yesterday debating which gloves the fighters would wear. This fight did very little to establish a true lead-man for the division as Nikolay Valuev (WBA Champion), Oleg Maskaev (WBC Champion), and Shannon Briggs (WBO Champion) each have scheduled fights and none are in the direct line of fire to face one another. Somewhere beneath the radar is the “Nigerian Nightmare” Samuel Peters, who looked like a new man in a January fight against a very credible James “Lights Out” Toney. Until a frontrunner comes along and establishes himself, the most talented of the quartet in terms of a total package is easily Wladimir Klitschko who’s trainer, (Emmanuel Steward), is perhaps the best trainer in the game and has undoubtedly put his print on a fighter who’s talent before was not enough to keep even the mediocre talents away from his perceived glass chin. The man behind ‘the man’ is a a mere toss up as the size and ability of all other three champions place them in a virtual gridlock. For a definitive answer to the ‘who’s next in line’ question at this point we must wait, but for most fight fans it’s the ‘Wait’ in this division, (or should we say dead weight), that broke the wagon.
Did The Rainman Forget His Umbrella? Ray Austin KO’d In 2
Posted by Tim Starks on Mar 10, 2007 23:39
