Will it be revenge or repeat in the rematch of the April 10, 2004 battle that was won by Lamon Brewster via 5th round stoppage? The guess here is that it’s the latter. Wladimir Klitschko finally appears to be living up to the lofty expectations that followed him since his pro debut in 1996, with resounding victories over top heavyweight contenders like Samuel Peter (UD 12), Chris Byrd (TKO 7) and Calvin Brock (TKO 7) since these two last fought.
Brewster, on the other hand, has had his share of ups and downs since their first tussle. His most notable win “post-Klitschko” was a first round destruction of the enigmatic Andrew Golota, but he eventually lost his WBO belt in April against Serguei Lyakhovich. Coupled with that loss, it was discovered that he had entered the fight with a damaged eye and left it with major retinal damage – putting him on the shelf until this Saturday.
PREDICTION: The combination of Brewster’s long layoff and Klitschko’s renewed vigor under the tutelage of Hall of Fame trainer Emmanuel Steward means that revenge will be in order this Saturday night. Klitschko will stop the game Brewster in five. In other action on the same night, look for Travis Simms to successfully defend his 154-lb. alphabet title (WBA) against the undefeated, yet untested Joachim Alcine (28-0, 18 KO’s) over 12 competitive rounds. On the undercard, flyweight king Vic Darchinyan (26-0, 21 KO’s) will stop the Filipino challenger Nonito Donaire (17-1, 10 KO’s) inside of eight rounds.
Klitschko will get knock out tonight because it is a mental game. Klitchko can’t take a punch.
It is indeed mental, but it appears that Brewster was the one who was mentally defeated, especially if you listen to his words after the fight. He’s a pro though; he offered no excuses and was surprisingly candid about his safer approach to fighting. Sad to say, for a fighter with his physical shortcomings, if he’s now more concerned with his physical well-being (for totally understandable reasons, i.e. his family), then he may as well start thinking about packing it in. We’ll see what he does after this.
Do not have HBO and sure miss not seeing these fights. I have seen and have tapes of fights back to the 70’s.
I do look forward to seeing the fight and commenting on it.
Yes, it was a methodical beat-down. Vlad looks like he’s finally arriving…
that was murder a homicide almost. Wlad pulled a 187. Brewster please call it quits.
young gotti, no argument here. yes, brewster’s fighting spirit appears to be waning…once you talk about it (retirement), it’s already over in this sport.