Boxing: Point to prove

When heavyweight contender David Tua and American Hasim Rahman slugged it out for a brutal 12-round draw in their world title eliminator (and Tua's last fight) nearly two years ago, Lennox Lewis bestrode the division like a colossus.

Lewis was the champion in the eyes of everyone who knew anything about boxing. The general consensus was that there was only one fighter with a chance of beating him - Wladimir Klitschko, the so-called 'future of the division'.

Behind him came veteran former champion Evander Holyfield (whom Lewis had drawn with, then out-pointed), John Ruiz, Chris Byrd, Tua (whom Lewis had also out-pointed), Rahman, who had knocked out Lewis to win the title, but whom Lewis had flattened in the return), Mike Tyson (whom Lewis was later to dominate and knock out in the eighth), Kirk Johnson (who was to have challenged Lewis the year before last, but was injured), Vitali Klitschko (Wladimir's elder brother, who took Johnson's place against Lewis) and Jameel McLine.

Where are they now? And what sort of division must Tua and his advisers contemplate on the eve of his comeback?

Lewis got an awful fright against Vitali Klitschko before the fight was stopped because of a gash over Vitali's left eye.

Lewis retired but has been making noises about a comeback.

Heir-apparent Wladimir unbelievably lost his WBO title when knocked out by South African veteran Corrie Sanders. He then relinquished the title rather than face mandatory challenger Lamont Brewster, so Brewster was matched with former champion Wladimir for the vacant title. In another huge upset, Wladimir was stopped again, this time in the fifth. He said he was exhausted after the first round and that he must have been doped - a bizarre claim which has since been quietly abandoned.

Holyfield was matched with Chris Byrd for the IBF title (which became vacant on Lewis' retirement), but was easily out-pointed. He was then badly beaten by former super-middleweight and cruiserweight champion James Toney and overwhelmingly out-pointed by veteran Larry Donald.

Holyfield talks about fighting on but New York State said it won't give him a licence.

Ruiz, luckily, is still WBA champ, although he lost the title briefly when out-pointed and outclassed by then light-heavyweight champ Roy Jones. But Jones went back down to his own division and the WBA matched Ruiz with Rahman. Ruiz won a close decision.

Tyson made one of several comebacks last year, only to be stopped in four by unheralded Brit Danny Williams. But he's still in debt, so is still fighting. And he's still dangerous, still has his punch - and his drawing power. A fight with Tua would have fight fans salivating.

Vitali Klitschko took on Kirk Johnson, stopping him in the second. The WBC then matched him with the man who had shocked his brother, Corrie Sanders, for its version of the Lewis-vacated title. Vitali stopped him in the eighth.

McLine, who had been beaten by Wladimir when the latter was WBO champ, got an IBF title shot against Chris Byrd but lost via a points decision.

The weakness of the heavyweight division is illustrated by three things - the number of times these fighters have met each other, the number of times the same fighters have challenged for different versions of the title and the fact that many of them are still around after all these years.

As things stand now, Vitali Klitschko is the WBC champion and regarded by most as the division's premier fighter. Ruiz is still WBA champion, but his boring, jab-clutch-clinch-wrestle style has alienated fans. He's known as the master of 'winning ugly'.

Chris Byrd is the IBF champion. His last defence was a close win over McLine, which followed a draw with veteran Andrew Golota.

Brewster remains WBO champion by virtue of a highly controversial decision over unranked NZ-born Australian Kali Meehan. He is the only one of the four with a definite defence scheduled, in March. And who against? Old face Andrew Golota.

The fact Golota is getting his third challenge in as many fights is the most graphic illustration of the paucity of talent. The flawed Pole was stopped in the first by Lewis in a title challenge. He then quit in the 10th round of a fight he was winning against contender Michael Grant, and retired. He was brought back to face Tyson, and quit again, this time in the third. He was heavily fined and retired again.

But after three years he was back in the ring. Thanks to the backing of Don King he got an undeserved title shot against IBF champ Chris Byrd and was thought by some unlucky to get only a draw. Again thanks to King, he got a shot against Ruiz and lost on points. Again, many thought he had won. That's how Ruiz fights are - messy and difficult to score.

Now he gets a chance against Brewster, who has an iron chin but little skill. Golota has a chance of winning something, at last.

Byrd has nothing lined up. He's so tricky and unorthodox and hard to hit that fighters don't challenge him and fight fans don't line up to buy tickets. Remember how he frustrated, outsmarted and out-boxed Tua four years ago?

Ruiz has nothing lined up either, for roughly similar reasons.

As for Vitali, the top man who recently knocked out Tyson-conqueror Williams, word is that Don King plans to have him defend against old Tua foe Rahman in July - Rahman having restored his reputation somewhat by stopping Kali Meehan in the third.

Again, see how the same names keep cropping up.

But what does this messy, crowded and confused picture tell Tua and his advisers? It is surely that a fighter who hits as hard as Tua has a puncher's chance (at the least) against all of them - but only once he's shed his ring rust, has got down to a decent fighting weight and becomes the dangerous and hungry left hooker which he once was.

He will also have to plot a path to the most beatable of the champions (Brewster and Ruiz) by regaining his world ranking.

But he'll have to be quick about it. Time is not on his side.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY