20 years ago, Wladimir Klitschko was on the verge of winning the WBO title against Lamon Brewster. But a sudden and mysterious collapse in the fifth round leads to the Ukrainian’s defeat and raises questions that remain unanswered to this day
During his illustrious professional career, Wladimir Klitschko only lost five of his 69 fights. The Ukrainian probably suffered his most explosive defeat 20 years ago, on April 10, 2004, against the American Lamon Brewster.
The starting position before the duel for the vacant WBO title in Las Vegas was clear: the then 28-year-old Klitschko was in top form and was making his next attempt at the boxing throne. His opponent, the 30-year-old Brewster, had a track record of success, but was considered to be technically more limited. Everything pointed to a short fight.
The expectations were confirmed in the first few rounds, Klitschko fully lived up to his role as favorite and dictated the action with his jab. After the second round, “Dr. Steelhammer” had already landed 45 jabs, while Brewster was only able to land a total of five punches
Klitschko collapses in round five
Despite his opponent’s superiority, the US American somehow managed to save himself in the fifth round – even though he had already been down for eight seconds in the fourth round.
The tide turned in the fifth round: Klitschko’s condition suddenly collapsed completely, he was breathing more heavily and from then on was an easy target for Brewster. The US-American landed one punch after the other. The spectators at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino could no longer keep their seats in amazement.
Klitschko held out until the bell, but at the end of the round the clearly battered favorite fell. There was no reaction from the Ukrainian to the words of referee Robert Byrd. The fight was stopped
Urine and blood sample missing: FBI investigating
However, the fight was by no means over. Around a month later, Klitschko announced through his lawyer that he wanted the authorities to investigate the defeat. The reason for this was the fact that both Klitschko’s urine and blood samples had mysteriously disappeared after the fight. Despite investigations by the FBI, the circumstances could never be clarified.
Klitschko had already gone on record after the fight to say that he “felt like he was on drugs” and had “legs like rubber”. Speculation as to whether he was drugged or poisoned that day persists to this day.
In addition, developments on the betting market provided a strange aftertaste: The odds on a victory for Brewster had fallen from 11:1 to 3.5:1 a few hours before the fight – an indication that one or more bettors had placed a lot of money on a victory for the underdog. Coincidence?
Brewster: “Was simply the better player on the night “
“I’m convinced that Wladimir pushed too hard in the first few rounds and was then simply tired. My will and the many body shots robbed him of his energy. I was simply the better man that evening and had the bigger heart,” said the victorious Brewster some time later, looking back on the fight.
In retrospect, Klitschko regrets the shadow that the speculation cast over Brewster’s success. “He deserved to win. Even though I still don’t know the reason for my collapse and I’ve never experienced anything like it before or since,” said the Ukrainian.
After all, the defeat in April 2004 marked a positive turning point in Klitschko’s career: He subsequently went more than 11 years without losing a single fight.
Klitschko celebrates dominant win in rematch
Klitschko is sure that he would not have been able to do that if it had not been for the duel with Brewster. “If I had the chance today to rewind my life and erase that defeat, I wouldn’t do it,” he once said.
In the summer of 2007, Klitschko and the American faced each other a second time in the ring. This time Brewster had no chance at all and had to retire after the sixth round. This brought things full circle for Klitschko.
But why he let what seemed to be a certain victory in the first fight in 2004 slip from his grasp will probably remain a mystery forever
