"Dr. Steelhammer" takes another crack at "Relentless" in Cologne, Germany on Saturday night with the IBF World Heavyweight title on the line. For anyone not familiar with the nicknames currently gracing boxing's largely nondescript heavyweight ranks, Dr. Steelhammer is current IBF and IBO title-holder Wladimir Klitschko, while the man they call Relentless is challenger Lamon Brewster. This will be the second time these two fighters will clash, and Klitschko will be out to avenge a defeat from three years ago. In that initial matchup back on April 10, 2004, Brewster won the vacant WBO Heavyweight title after delivering a fifth-round knockout to Klitschko. That boxing fight is remembered for more than the mere fact that Brewster won the title. Klitschko easily won the first four rounds after dominating Brewster with an onslaught of punches, which included knocking Brewster down at the end of the fourth round. In the fifth round, Brewster erupted with a flurry of his own that included a heavy right hand in the final seconds of the round that sent Klitschko to the canvas. Klitschko barely got to his feet ahead of the count, but after the round ended he hit the floor again and remained there long enough and was unresponsive, so the fight was called in Brewster's favor. There have been numerous accusations out of Klitschko's camp that he had been drugged prior to the fight due to a low blood sugar level reported at the hospital after the fight, but nothing was ever confirmed.
Since that fight Brewster has only fought four times due to injury. After beating Klitschko, Brewster rolled through Kali Meehan, Andrew Golota and Luan Krasniqi before losing his title in an exciting 12-round brawl with Serguei Lyakhovich that he fought without full use of his left eye after the first round. After the fight, it was discovered that Brewster had suffered a detached retina in his left eye that required surgery. That surgery and subsequent healing time kept Brewster out of the ring for over a year and his rematch against Klitschko will be his first fight in 15 months. Since losing against Brewster, Klitschko has won six straight fights, including a TKO of Chris Byrd to win the IBF title, and another TKO against challenger Calvin Brock. In his last fight on March 10 versus Ray Austin, which was also held in Germany, Klitschko delivered an impressive second-round knockout after catching Austin with four furious left hooks. Klitschko is the favorite in the rematch, due to the fact that he's the reigning champ and because of Brewster's long layoff. Since his exhausting loss to Brewster, Klitschko has improved his fight stamina and begun clinching more to give himself a breather when he needs it in the ring. But most of the experts agree that Klitschko hasn't faced a heavy hitter like Brewster since his loss. If Brewster can deliver another round of wicked right hands, he could make it two-for-two versus Klitschko and take his title. Check out Boxing Betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook.
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