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It has been a long time since the boxing world has known a heavyweight champion without the last name Klitschko. However, that is all about to change after Vitali Klitschko announced that he would be vacating the title. The news shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise, seeing how he hasn’t defended his title in a little less than a year and a half.
Klitschko will now be able to put all of his focus on running for president in his native Ukraine. In a deal made with the WBC, if Klitschko does decide to fight again, he will get an instant title shot upon his return.
With a vacant belt available in the heavyweight boxing world, there are tons of opportunities for fighters who were standing in the background as the Klitschko brothers dominated the rankings.
More than likely, the WBC will pit the two of the top-five contenders against each other to fill the vacant position (Bermane Stivern, Chris Arreola, Deontay Wilder, Bryant Jennings or Mike Perez). To my knowledge, there has not been an announcement made about when the decision will be made as to who will be fighting for the title.
Americans have to be excited about the possibilities that an American fighter will now have a legitimate chance of winning a heavyweight title. Of the five aforementioned fighters, three are American (Arreola, Wilder and Bryant). The chances of one of them fighting for the vacant title is high.
The last time an American held the WBC heavyweight title was in 2005-06 (Hasim Rahman). He had one title defense, which was a draw to James Toney, before losing the belt to Oleg Maskaev.
This will also put fighters like Tyson Fury, Tomasz Adamek and Derek Chisora into the mix as time passes. The worst thing that could happen for any of these fighters is if Wladimir Klitschko decides he wants to monopolize the division and unify all of the belts.
No one is beating Wladimir Klitschko.
Anthony Cloud is a MMA Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Google or like him on Facebook.
