Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Brewster's first defense is verbal

Revels in victory over Wladimir Klitschko, to risk title Sept. 4

By KEVIN IOLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

WBO heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster listens at a news conference to announce his Sept. 4 defense against Kali Meehan. Photo by John Locher. Boxing promoter Don King participates in a news conference Tuesday to announce a Sept. 4 card at Mandalay Bay featuring a WBO heavyweight title defense by Lamon Brewster. Photo by John Locher.

Lamon Brewster has the WBO heavyweight championship and will defend the belt against unknown Kali Meehan on Sept. 4 at Mandalay Bay.

The engaging Brewster, a distant cousin of IBF heavyweight champion Chris Byrd of Las Vegas, has heard the critics loud and clear. They've argued that Brewster didn't so much win the title April 10 as Wladimir Klitschko surrendered it.

Brewster took a frightful beating from Klitschko for four rounds at Mandalay Bay until Klitschko ran out of gas. Brewster pummeled him in the final seconds of the fifth round and Klitschko didn't have the strength to walk to his corner, prompting referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight.

Several weeks later, Klitschko hired a lawyer who asked U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden to conduct an investigation. Klitschko alleged he might have been drugged.

Brewster, though, said he was hardly bothered by the allegations and accused Klitschko of demeaning himself and the sport that had done so much for him.

"You hear all this about how the Klitschkos are different and how Wladimir is so classy, but in my opinion, what he did demeaned boxing," Brewster said. "It's a sad day when a man who has won all of these fights can lose one and start looking to point fingers. My answer to what he did is to tell you it makes him look bad and that it sets boxing back.

"We're trying to promote boxing and get it back to the days when it was a gentleman's sport and the two guys didn't have to hate each other before they got in the ring and then fought like monsters. Hey, I knew what kind of fight (that) would be. I'm not a dummy. For years, I thought about what it would take for me to beat Wladimir Klitschko and I came up with the right way."

It was the right way, but it sure wasn't the most conventional plan. Brewster, 30-2 with 27 knockouts, realized he couldn't match physical skills with Klitschko, who was bigger and more fluid and graceful.

But Brewster knew how badly he wanted to win and doubted Klitschko could match his desire. Because he knew of Klitschko's tendency to fade, Brewster decided to attempt a modern-day version of Muhammad Ali's famous "Rope-a-Dope," the tactic he used in his upset victory over George Foreman on Oct. 30, 1974.

Brewster decided to try to let Klitschko wear himself out.

"It's not about skill all the time," said Brewster, 30. "He's a good fighter, but he's an athlete, not necessarily a fighter. He was never in a situation where he had to show he has heart to win a fight. I watched him beating up on old Ray Mercer. It was in the fourth round and I could hear him breathing loudly on the tape.

"I decided, `Let's not train to try to match skills with the guy.' The smart move was, I had to train to take the dude into deep water to see if he could swim. He was going to have to kill me to win, so I had to see if his endurance could outlast my heart. I didn't think it could and I think you see that I was right."

• NOTES -- Undisputed welterweight champion Cory Spinks will defend his title against 140-pound champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez on the Brewster-Meehan undercard. ... Meehan is 29-1, with his loss coming to Mike Tyson conqueror Danny Williams. Meehan served as a sparring partner for Brewster as the latter prepared for the Klitschko fight. ...

Promoter Don King announced a Nov. 13 card that will include an IBF heavyweight title fight between Byrd and Jameel McCline and a WBA heavyweight title fight between John Ruiz and Andrew Golota. Former champion Hasim Rahman also will be on the card. No site has been determined, but King said several Las Vegas venues are interested.