Volodymyr Klychko in Atlantic City: the view from the stands (07/14/02)

Volodymyr Klychko in Atlantic City: the view from the stands

by Adrian Bryttan

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - "Klychko, Klychko!" The true believers were assembled here to bear witness. "Klychko, Klychko!" Every eye in the Mark G. Etess Arena at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City was focused on the passage where he would make his entrance. Four rows of the press corps were poised behind their glowing laptops and phone lines. On two elevated platforms HBO had set up its cameras and the pre-fight interviews were winding down. The chants of the faithful grew more insistent. "Klychko, Klychko!"

Sporting blue-and-yellow T-shirts, a phalanx of Ukrainian supporters from Chicago was working the crowd into a trance. In every direction you could see blue and yellow flags, pennants, war paint on faces and shaved skulls, yellow tridents on arms, blue-and-yellow capes and jogging suits. Some more temperate fans showed up in embroidered shirts and one blonde girl pinned a red poppy behind her ear. After all, this was Ukraine's 1996 Olympic boxing champion and the World Boxing Organization's heavyweight champion.

The hypnotic mantra kept trying to win over the gods of fortune."Klychko, Klychko!"

(Meanwile, in the main casino right across the hallway from the arena, thousands more also were courting their luck over hundreds of gambling tables and oceans of slot machines with names like Betty Boop's Big Hit, Betty Boop's Roaring '20s, Born to Boop and this mind numbing medley: Diamond Winners, Double Diamond, Double Double Diamond, Triple Diamond, Triple Double Diamond and the supreme Triple Diamond Deluxe. The gamblers' mantra was the unrelenting barrage of metallic and twangy buzzes, bells, drones, bells, jangles and whistles from all these machines, flooding the ear like a nightmarish amalgamation of Hare Krishna processionals and gamelan orchestras from Bali.)

In the arena, the time of reckoning was close at hand. "Klychko, Klychko!" The 5,000-seat arena verged on the frenzy of a revival meeting, rallied by the Ukrainian fans. Volodymyr Klychko (spelled Wladimir Klychko based on the German rendering of his name, since he trains in Germany), 26 years old and WBO champion ("the biggest one on the way up" and "the only one who might beat Lennox Lewis," according to some TV oracles) would soon make his appearance. His opponent, Ray Mercer, had already climbed into the 18-foot-ring but he was not the zealots' chosen one.

One poster predicted: "Klitschkos' Power Is Coming." (Perhaps a reference to the two Klychkos, Volodymyr and his brother, Vitalii.) His flock clamored with new ardor for their prophet. "Klych-ko, Klych-ko, Klych-ko!!!!!" Suddenly his trainer and cornermen materialized and the ritual was almost complete. Now the chants mutated into "U-kra-i-na, U-kra-i-na ... Klych-ko, Klych-ko!" A wave of noise and screams piled on the decibels as the gladiator for the 21st century, Volodymyr Klychko, in a centurion-red robe with gold trim began his resolute march towards the squared circle.

Just a short escalator ride from the arena and casino is a memorabilia gift shop where you can buy anything from autographed movie posters for $850 to a guitar once strummed by Elvis for $75,000. Also available is the sword used in the film "Gladiator" for $25,000. As it turned out on that night of June 29, not even Russell Crowe's Roman body armor complete with shield would have protected the overmatched 41-year-old Ray Mercer from his rival's sharpshooting skills. Klychko needed just 16 minutes and 8 seconds to inflict a bloody TKO on his frustrated and outclassed adversary in the sixth round.

After the fight I had an opportunity to interview Teddy Atlas, the expert commentator seen every week on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights." Mr. Atlas has over 30 years' experience in the world of boxing and is a leader in the movement to establish a Federal Commission which would set and enforce standards and clean up the sport.

Our first topic, naturally, was the Klychko-Mercer bout. The crowd noise was deceptive because, according to Mr. Atlas' sources, the fight was not well attended and only half of the 5,000 seats were filled. While the HBO broadcasters praised Klychko after the fight, they maintained that a future fight with Lennox Lewis would have to take place in Europe because there is not enough support here for Klychko.

(Now just imagine if only a couple thousand more Ukrainian fans had come to Atlantic City that Saturday night to add to the relatively few but vocal enthusiasts. Here was a lost opportunity to draw attention to the Ukrainian presence which could have ramifications far beyond the world of boxing. As it was, HBO did not broadcast the picture of Klychko draping a blue-and-yellow flag over his shoulders after the bout.)

"The Mercer fight was more like a controlled sparring session in a training camp," Mr. Atlas said. "Ray Mercer is 41 years old and he'd have trouble getting licensed again after that performance, I would hope. Now, having said all that, Klychko has good size, talent, speed and power, and possesses a certain technical understanding. But he wasn't really tested that night. He was shaken by a couple of jabs and I noticed he can get hit with right hands over jabs."

"I don't think he's ready yet for Lennox Lewis," Mr. Atlas continued. "At some point in every round he stands straight up and can get hit. I could envision Lewis knocking him out with right hands. But remember, at this time it's a barren landscape with many corrupt and splintered organizations. So it's still possible he'll get a title without being truly tested."

"Boxing is the server of truth, however, and sooner or later the truth will come out," he noted. "There remains the question of Klychko's quitting once in a previous fight. Now, maybe he's matured but so far there's no evidence that he has and no evidence that he hasn't. Someone will have to test him and we will see if he graduates through more difficult situations."

"We all want to see people tested and overcome difficulties by sheer will and determination," he continued. "In our own lives we might have to stand up to our boss or in other personal situations and so we get hope. We say 'I wish I could do that' and use the same resolve that we see in the ring. We recognize the pitched battle in all its nakedness: all birthrights, all privileges are taken away and you are left only with your will, your mind and your ability to develop your skills. Even though you may have been born with less physique, less brains or whatever - still, with resolve, discipline and training, there is hope."

There were six bouts that evening in Atlantic City and tickets were from $75 to $350. It was all packaged, of course, as "entertainment": elegantly tuxedoed and stentorian announcers, dramatic entrance music, gleaming red and white ring ropes, siliconed ring card girls, even the fairy tale themes ("Casbah," "Taj Mahal," "Caesar's Palace") of the casinos themselves. The only magical thing about the casinos is how swiftly your money will disappear.

As the preliminary bouts progressed, the show biz element increased with the higher skill levels. Welterweight Anthony "The Messenger" Thompson danced into the ring dressed in gold and silver bearing the star of David on his robe. His cheering section from Philadelphia included women and little girls (some also in gold and silver robes), evidently there for his spiritual needs as well as to provide encouragement during the fight. They stood, swayed, hopped around and filled the arena with screeches and yells for all four rounds. (One particularly volatile woman looked like she herself might have given either one of the combatants a good tussle in the ring.) Thompson's congregation sounded like a combination of a crowd at a street fight and a revival meeting. After four punishing rounds, The Messenger's opponent was shown the error of his ways. But the penance was stiff and he was pretty much a mess at the end, spitting blood into a white Taj Mahal plastic gambling bucket between the later rounds.

This was not like the "Rocky" movies where boxers get hit with hundreds of solid, audio-enhanced, blows and walk away with only puffed lips and black eyes. What about the medical trauma, injuries and deaths, and what about the bloodlust of some of the fans?

"I'm not going to tell you that boxing isn't dangerous and that people don't get hurt," Mr. Atlas said. "Football is more hazardous, but it's not fashionable to discuss the very real risks there. A study conducted by the University of North Carolina covering the last 30 years found, on the average, 18 deaths per year among high school football players. This doesn't include serious injuries like paralysis, nor does it include college and pro players. I don't think there were that many deaths in boxing over the last 10 years combined."

"Yes, it's dangerous," he contined, "but we're trying to make it as safe as we can. At least in boxing, unlike football, you see when it's coming at you. Think of that next time you hear football fans scream 'great hit!' and the player cartwheels through the air before being slammed to the ground."

"Boxing serves to help a lot of young men find their way. It's a lot cheaper than some politically contrived programs that cost taxpayers millions of dollars but don't necessarily help those people nor society," Mr. Atlas offered. "On the other hand, Klychko is an educated man ... other boxers have also been lawyers and other professionals as well. They do it because of the glory of the sport: overcoming difficulties and overcoming getting hit by displaying mental and physical courage."

For the past four years, Mr. Atlas has been a leader in calling for the creation of a national commission to clean up boxing. Recently the International Boxing Federation was indicted by federal courts and found guilty of racketeering and selling ratings after being caught on video accepting money in a hotel room. For a long time people had thought that corruption existed; now all doubts were removed.

Sen. John McCain stated that at least we knew in the past who the champion was, but what we have now with all the alphabet soup splinter groups is "just a mockery." The senator was interviewed by Mr. Atlas on ESPN2. Sen. McCain was an amateur fighter and wants to restore boxing to the "sweet science when it was at its best" and to clean up the bad mismatches, judging and refereeing. "There are too many stories of boxers manipulated, abused and then left by the wayside."

Mr. Atlas recently submitted testimony to the Senate in support of the bill introduced by Sen. McCain to create a Federal Boxing Commission.

"The WBA and WBC are similar institutions, and we need to get rid of them too," explained Mr. Atlas. "All these splinter organizations are disgraceful, and we need to put the ratings in control of legitimate people. Right now in boxing we have a situation like the 'Wild West.' We must create a national commission to provide leadership and structure, to establish and enforce strict guidelines. Judging has been inconsistent. We should set criteria and suspend the bad judges. We need unilateral medical standards. One state may require CAT scans and heart exams, while in another state all you need to show is a pulse.

There should also be stricter guidelines on who can be a trainer. Trainers can stop the fight before the referee and right now some people are doing terrible damage because of their lack of knowledge or experience. Also there should be more monitoring in gyms; suspended fighters often continue training even though they are forbidden to set foot in the gym."

"The world is changing," HBO's Larry Merchant stated after the fight, referring to Klychko's comment about prize fighting becoming global. Volodymyr Klychko is a charming and personable young man with a good sense of humor and has the potential to become a media star. (He suggested a pre-fight chess match with Lennox Lewis to be refereed by Gary Kasparov. And before this last bout, he smilingly told the TV audience: "please watch this fight because every second ... anything can happen" - a refreshing change from the prefight insults and brawls some boxers have incorporated from the world of professional wrestling.)

With all the growing attention focused on Volodymyr Klychko, and the concurrent efforts by people like Sen. McCain and Teddy Atlas to clean up the sport and bring back the "golden era" to boxing, it would be fortuitous if the Ukrainian government and sports bodies allied themselves with Mr. Atlas and the senator. Wouldn't it be admirable if Ukraine became the model nation for all the needed reforms in boxing?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if whenever the Klychkos and others like them fight, Ukrainian fans throughout the world would not only pack the arenas but also make their will known to the officials in Kyiv and spearhead the movement to do something beneficial and far-reaching for the sport and for themselves? It's a unique opportunity at this point in time.

As Mr. Atlas might say: "with resolve and will, there is hope."

Adrian Bryttan's e-mail address is a.bryttan@att.net.

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