A Sporting View: Dr. Steelhammer
It’s been years since they’ve had a contender, but Germany appears to have found someone to take over the throne from David Hasselhoff — IBF and IBO heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.
The Germans refer to him as “Dr. Steelhammer,” the words used by former champion Chris Byrd to describe the way his knockout punch felt, and before his last fight the Mannheim Arena crowd was treated to a pre-fight show that featured a man elevated high above the ring, banging a — you guessed it — steel hammer against an anvil.
For fans of professional wrestling, the pageantry and showbiz aspects of it all were unmistakable — in fact, it lasted longer than the fight. On this night, Klitschko would defend his title in a mandatory bout against Ray Austin and dispatch the journeyman from Cleveland in less than five minutes using only his left hand.
The crowd jeered the outcome, but rose to their feet when the 6-foot-6 Klitschko saluted them, their affection for the superstar who rose through the ranks in the Fatherland too strong to deny. On the international scene, Klitschko, despite being born in Kazakhstan, is their star of stars.
Stoic and possessing a classically Russian face almost reminiscent of Dolph Lundgren’s “Ivan Drago”’ character in “Rocky IV,” Klitschko has an 81-inch reach and exceptional power in both hands. Since most of his fights end up as knockouts, he’s fun to watch for fans of the fight game.
Klitschko is aware of the curiosity he arouses, and he’s been smart enough to bank on that himself. Having earned a doctorate from the University of Kiev, Klitschko handles his own promotion and marketing. As much fun as Kazakhstan is, Klitschko ditched his yurt for a posh spread in Beverly Hills. On weekends he can be seen on area beaches kite sailing. At night, he can be found performing magic tricks on “The Tonight Show.” He’s a showman.
“The boxing world hasn’t had a Great White Hope since Gerry Cooney, but it has a marketable new personality in Wladimir Klitschko,” gushed the New York Post’s Page Six gossip column. Muhammad Ali, Dennis Hopper, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Lui, Mickey Rourke, Jerome Bettis, Boris Becker, Matthew Modine, Dick Parsons, David Wright, Bob Costas, Bryant Gumbel and Paul Lo Duca were all in attendance at November’s Madison Square Garden title defense, the paper noted.
Despite his newfound drawing power, Klitschko does have an Achilles’ jaw — he’s dined on an all-you-can-eat canvas buffet several times. He’s lost three times — all by knock out — so he’s not perfect. But in the words of HBO’s Larry Merchant, who shrugged off Klitschko’s unimpressive bout against Austin, “Let’s not let ‘perfect’ get in the way of ‘good.’ “