8th March 2003 ..
Preussag Arena, Hannover.
Corrie Sanders v Vladimir Klitschko

As a writer and boxing analyst I never pull my punches when I see a possible badly made match at World level, especially when the title at stake is the absolute financial pinnacle of the pugilistic arts department. Heavyweight Championship of the world is an honour bestowed upon the very top of boxing's 200+ pounders, but it is also a once in a lifetime privilege to have the chance to compete for, and should be given to those who present the finest tools to pursue that chance.

Tomorrow evening in Hannover that honour will be bestowed upon a man who is 11 years older than the current champion, and several levels in class below to boot. South African challenger Corrie Sanders is a well preserved contender who has rarely stepped onto the world scene, yet on a sole occasion bizarrely gave former Champ Hasim Rahman heaps of problems in an eliminator a couple of years ago, but this was just a cameo appearance of an erratic big strong man who is in no way Championship material.

In the last six years Sanders has made 8 appearances, the last two came against uninspiring opposition, Otis Tisdale, a man who is still appearing in 4 round fights against upcoming prospects (a man who Sanders beat in his only fight of 2002), and Mike Sprott, a British fighter who has never even had the talent to fight competitively for the British title never mind World title, (the man who Sanders beat in his only appearance of 2001). Have I persuaded anyone to hear my argument yet?

Sanders lost his first fight to the lesser known brother of former WBA king Tony Tubbs, Nathan. Nate actually stopped Corrie and that is a cue to the amount of talent we have on the plate tomorrow evening. His second loss was the ding dong battle career highlight of Sanders' boxing life when he showed some spark in an entertaining argument by brawling Hasim Rahman before being eliminated on his shield. 38 and 2 with 28 KO's looks pretty damn promising on a fighter's CV, but in actuality this is a very drawn out and padded career which began in 1989 when Corrie Sanders stopped the inaptly named cat by the name of King Kong Dyubele in a single round in his first pro start.

My own personal alarm bells started to chime when he boxed here in London on the Lennox Lewis v Oliver McCall undercard against Garing 'Freight Train' Lane in September 1994. Sanders boxed cautiously against statistically challenged Lane (statistically challenged is my way of politely saying that Sanders was 90 lbs. slimmer, almost a foot taller and 10 inches longer in the reach, not to mention his gigantic class advantage deficit), but in round 2 he still managed to get himself dropped heavily by his dwarfed opponent. 'Nuff said.

The heavyweight challenger possesses a record so quilted that it almost resembles the same textures of a sleeping bag, something that Sanders may need after a handful of rounds come Saturday evening. I think the South African is just a very big, strong, limited and inconsistent performer who will find out like Mercer, McCline, Botha and Shufford did before him, how hard Doctor Klitschko can be to handle in the squared circle with the Championship at stake.

Vlad Klitschko is statistically superior in every manner. Age is just one arena, (37 plays 26), Klitschko appeared 9 times in 3 years yet Sanders appeared just 8 times in 6 years, and against aforementioned less superior opposition.

Vlad Klitschko has pressed an amazing 40 - 1 (37 KO's) record into 6 years as a pro, where in 14 years as a paid fighter Corrie Sanders has amassed just a meager 38 - 2 (28 KO's) fact file of the heavily puffed up variety. Career stats all crunched and analyzed concludes the bare creds of both heavyweights as far as activity is concerned; Sanders has boxed an average of 2.85 fights a year where the relative newcomer has put one fight more into just 6 full years of activity, that measures 6.83 fights a year of more solid opposition. That tells me that if nothing else, inactivity will defeat the Challenger on a major scale with just a hint of help from the platinum class skills of a continually improving WBO Champion.

Doctor Klitschko prepare for yet another successful defense; I just hope to see more quality opposition stepping to the mix. Corrie Sanders, I have to tip my hat to such an under equipped Challenger, I just hope you have done some very solid preparations and know exactly what you are letting yourself in for.

My only possible vision of Sanders being victorious is that the Vlad Klitschko that showed up on a solitary bad day at the office several years ago against Ross Purity rears its ugly head once again, but I severely doubt it. (Yet stranger things have occurred)...

I just analyze, and hate to plainly criticize; watch and learn we may all be surprised, last weekend I was blown away and converted by a genius performance by an unknown quantity to planet heavyweight, but Roy Jones Jr. is no Corrie Sanders and John Ruiz is definitely no Vlad Klitschko...