Alexander Hassenstein - Bongarts/Getty Images
Vitali Klitschko's right hand was his main weapon on Saturday, and for good reason. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Vitali Klitschko suffered a "small rupture of a ligament in his left shoulder" during Saturday's win over Dereck Chisora in Munich, according to a Klitschko spokesman in a report at ESPN.com, but plans to fight again in September. Surgery will apparently not be necessary.
Dittrich said Klitschko was examined at a Munich hospital after the fight but it "showed that surgery seems not to be needed."
Instead Klitschko will use physical therapy to rehabilitate the shoulder. However, it does throw his planned schedule off course. Klitschko had planned to fight three times this year with a June fight followed by another fight in the fall.
Klitschko (44-2, 40 KO) pretty much abandoned his jab during the fight, turning him almost exclusively into a right-hand puncher for much of the bout, a fact that will perhaps lead to some thinking that Chisora (15-3, 9 KO) did not look quite as good as maybe was believed before, but injuries are a reality and Chisora still fought well all things considered.
At 40, Vitali probably doesn't have a lot of fights left, though he will indeed fight on. Given his injury history and his age, plus just his body type, it's inevitable that little things like this will add up and likely begin to affect his performances. It's not to say he's not still a very good fighter, but he's definitely getting up there, and this sort of thing is more likely to become a repeated issue than it is to just go away.
[ Who Does Klitschko Face Next? ]
Let's forget for a second about who can or can't fight VItali for various reasons: Who do you want to see him face next? And don't say his brother. ("Why not?") Because.
0 recs | 10 comments
David Price
(Why?) Because!
atonyman - February 20, 2012
Roy Jones Jr.OmarLittle - February 21, 2012
If Vitali were a Golden Boy fighter he would be facing Shane Mosley next
Radu - February 21, 2012
I can’t stand how those “writers” with agendas over at the Ring gave Chisora hardly any credit at all for his performance and fawned all over Vitali, hanging on to every word he uttered.
I’m not saying this injury is an excuse and not real, but i would like to see proo, just to be sure.
If this was someone like Mayweather coming off a relatively poor performance and he came put with the injury straight afterward, you know most would be calling him a liar and whatever else. I would just like to see equal and fair standards.
I can’t stand how guys like Michael Rosenthal and Dan Rafael thinks the sun shines out of the Klitschko’s asses.
Yes, they seem like nice guys, but they are also businessmen and big stars in Europe with big ego’s.
It’s easy for a boxer to claim injury (especially one that is hard to prove one way of the other) in a damage limitation exercise.
Most of us know this, but the fawning of these buttkissers and so-called professionals makes me sick.
If Vitali told them the world was flat they would probably nod their heads in agreement.
And no, i don’t read them very often. Only when i want to remind myself how bad they are at their jobs.
Matt Mosley - February 21, 2012
proof
Matt Mosley - February 21, 2012
Convenient though isn’t it?
He struggles with someone he is expected beat easily and then blames an injury that no one can really prove either way, and that doesn’t need surgery.
Ok, so he didn’t use the arm much but a lot of fighters would have just not said anything about the injury, especially after they had won the fight anyway.
Matt Mosley - February 21, 2012
Vitali didn’t use his most elaborated weapon against a guy against whom it would have been of high efficiency. I was wondering why during the fight, and the injury absolutely explains it. I’m not getting your point here – why isn’t he allowed to tell about it after the fight? It’s affecting his future fights and is of way more weight than e.g. a hurt toe. Who wouldn’t have spoken about this injury in your opinion, and why?
DrHenrik - February 21, 2012
OK, ok, i shouldn’t have questioned Vitali’s integrity. I’m sure this is genuine and he and his brother seem like total gentlemen with admirable reserve and a lot of class.
I was more annoyed at the writer’s who were just dismissing Chisora as if he was a nothing challenger, when it was clear that he performed well for a 17 fight novice and took quite a few big shots yet still kept coming.
Even considering the injury, he deserved more respect than Rosenthal allowed him.
We all know he is an idiot and his before and after fight antics a disgrace but he still deserved respect for making Vitali fight hard, imo.
Matt Mosley - February 22, 2012
That chisora deserved high respect for his deliverance in the ring is absolutely what I felt when watching the fight. He really went for it (though he might easily have looked much worse against a two-handed opponent – anyway, we’ll never be able to tell). Kudos to him for that. And nice to see you focusing your anger on that Rosenthal guy (whom I don’t know) for his disrespect cause I really think that this is nothing Vitali deserves blame for.
DrHenrik - February 22, 2012
yup
BoxAnne - February 22, 2012
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