Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Columnist Dean Juipe: Klitschko vs. Lewis has more appeal

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.

No one wants to see an athlete get hurt and miss an opportunity to perform on a grand stage.

Yet no one -- beyond himself, his family and investors -- was too distraught at seeing Kirk Johnson pull out of his heavyweight championship fight with Lennox Lewis, as he did Friday due to a torn left pectoral muscle.

The fight, scheduled for June 21 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, had sold a mere 1,000 tickets according to published reports. As I wrote when the fight was announced, it was one that Las Vegas was glad to see go to California.

Johnson had little chance to win, had blown a previous opportunity at a world title with a disqualification loss to John Ruiz, and wasn't deserving of a fight with Lewis.

"It was hard to get excited about Kirk Johnson," acknowledged Emanuel Steward, who trains Lewis. "For whatever reason, most people don't remember him. His claim to fame is a DQ loss and the interest just wasn't there.

"It was a no-win situation."

But in an amazing reversal of fortune for the sport of boxing and its fans, Johnson has been replaced by the man who was penciled in to fight Lewis in November, Vitali Klitschko. He had been scheduled to fight on the undercard in LA, but, instead, now he gets Lewis sooner rather than later.

"I thought it was a good opportunity to show how good I am and how easily I can adjust," Lewis said during a conference call Tuesday. "A lot of people didn't know Kirk Johnson ... now we're going to give Los Angeles what they want."

Las Vegas would have wanted this fight, too, had circumstances been anything approaching normal. But with the cable network HBO eager to salvage the June 21 card and with the Staples Center already selling tickets, putting a Lewis vs. Klitschko fight up for bids on the open market was an impractical option.

HBO upped its guarantee to Lewis from $5.5 million to $7 million as an incentive to face Klitschko, who picks up an additional $1.4 million (and the German TV rights) as his bonus.

Johnson drops completely from the picture, so much so that when Lewis was asked if Johnson had missed his one and only chance to fight him, he replied "absolutely." Their fight will not be rescheduled, as Lewis will attempt to beat Klitschko and then take on Roy Jones Jr. in a pay-per-view bout slated for Nov. 15 that's likely to land in Las Vegas.

"I didn't want to wait for Kirk to get better," Lewis said of keeping to his timetable and sending Johnson back to the journeyman's circuit where he belongs.

Lewis vs. Klitschko has considerable appeal, even if it's not wholly reflected in the betting odds. Station Casinos in Las Vegas, for instance, has Lewis as a 5-1 favorite after having him at 6-1 to beat Johnson.

Klitschko, 32-1 with 31 knockouts, is 2 inches taller than the 6-foot-5 Lewis and obviously has a slugger's mentality. But the loss on his record, to Chris Byrd three years ago, is a reminder that he can get befuddled in the ring and that he is at least somewhat the product of a well-oiled publicity machine.

Lewis is 40-2-1 with 31 KOs but is also 37 years old and has been off for a year. Nevertheless, both he and Steward predict a fairly comfortable knockout victory.

"Vitali's too big to run," Steward said. "He'll come out and make it a tough, physical fight, but it won't last more than five rounds."

Lewis is equally confident.

"I don't see Vitali having my skill level," he said. "He hasn't been through what I've been through. He won't be able to take my kind of pressure."

Klitschko, whose older brother, Wladimir, was once a potential challenger to Lewis as well, had initiated court proceedings earlier this year in an effort to get a fight with Lewis, but that action has since been set aside.

"He's been trying to take me to court ... (and he has) overpriced himself," Lewis said, implying that he's additionally motivated to smack Klitschko a few times just for the fun of it. 'He wished for this fight and now he's going to get it."

In a lucky break for Los Angeles, they're going to get it too.

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