Competition sends White back to basic

[zatoicchi]

LAS VEGAS – Dana White offered a cocksure laugh borne from battles past; proof that the business of cage fighting can be as cutthroat and unforgiving as the sport itself.

“It’s about how much pain are you willing to take,” the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship said last week.

As mixed martial arts has boomed into a colossal business, no one has been smarter or tougher than White. In just seven years he turned a fledgling fight promotion into an estimated billion-dollar company.

He’s done it by building up the UFC and tearing down virtually everyone else. This month he’s at his best, attempting to inflict on Affliction plenty of pain.

Affliction, the T-shirt company that surged in popularity thanks in part to UFC fighters donning its unique, if garish, designs, is making its foray into fight promotion July 19 in Anaheim, Calif. It doled out an estimated $4 million to put together a top-notch lineup, including a headline fight featuring Fedor Emelianenko, considered the best heavyweight in the world, against two-time former UFC champion Tim Sylvia.

Competition sends White back to basic - MMA

[zatoicchi]

There’s nary an objective soul who would venture to say that IBF-WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is great.

Great guy? No doubt.

Great athlete? Affirmative.

Great scholar? Unquestionably.

Great heavyweight boxer? Nope. Not even close.

But Klitschko, who defends his titles on Saturday in an HBO-televised bout at 4:30 p.m. ET from Hamburg, Germany, against the left-handed Tony Thompson, is a victim of circumstances when it comes to boxing greatness.
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If you asked a buddy if a boxer who had captured an Olympic gold medal, won 50 of 53 pro fights, had two reigns as world champion, recorded 44 knockouts and had only been beaten cleanly once should be regarded as great, he’d give you a strange look before replying, “Of course.”

Until, that is, he found out it was Wladimir Klitschko you were asking about.

Then, he’d have to go back and ponder the question. At which point, he’d probably have to concede that at 32 years old, after a dozen years as a pro and with a 94.3 percent winning percentage that the guy isn’t really great.

Dearth of heavyweights diminishes Klitschko - Boxing

[zatoicchi]

BERLIN (AP)—Wladimir Klitschko has been in the ring with Tony Thompson, though he doesn’t remember it. Considering what happened afterward, who could blame him?

Thompson sparred with Klitschko before the bout against Corrie Sanders in 2003 that nearly finished the Ukrainian’s career. Now Thompson would like to be more directly involved with a defeat of Klitschko when he fights for the champ’s IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles in Hamburg on Saturday.

“I can’t remember that at all anymore,” said Klitschko, who had to call former trainer Fritz Smudek to confirm that Thompson was a sparring partner. “But it’s OK, I’ve learned not to underestimate anyone anymore.”

The hard-hitting Sanders appeared to destroy the myth of the next big thing by sending Klitschko, who came into the fight with a 40-1 record, to the canvas four times to win by knockout in the second round.

Klitschko faces sparring partner Thompson - Boxing