Boxing: Klitschkos light up the heavies, not Jones

The whole town's talking about the Jones boy. The whole world, too. Is Roy Jones the greatest boxer who ever lived? The question is posed on the front cover of the trade paper, Boxing News, whose editor, after watching the one-time middleweight champion's classy conquest of John Ruiz in Las Vegas last weekend to win the World Boxing Association heavyweight title, declares unequivocally: "Jones is the finest boxer I have ever seen, in the flesh or otherwise."

This view from the respected Claude Abrams is one that surely will be contested by many of those who did observe, in the flesh or otherwise, Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali at the peaks of their respective careers. Sugar Ray Leonard, too.

Yes, Jones is a wonderful craftsman, the best pound-for-pound boxer of the age, a hi-tech stylist. But let's put his achievement in perspective. He beat John Ruiz, a lumbering, humdrum Puerto Rican who does not carry a hurtful punch and whose defensive versatility is limited. He did not beat Lennox Lewis, nor would he. Neither, I suggest, would he have lasted against the original Mike Tyson or laid a glove on the young Ali.

Such is the paucity of the heavyweight scene these days that, like so many of Jones's erstwhile opponents, some critics have been carried away. It is also significant that while everyone is talking about Jones, and whether he will now take on Lewis, Tyson, Evander Holyfield or Saddam Hussein, there is no mention of the K-word. Klitschko.

If, indeed, there is a future for heavy-weight boxing it does not lie in the hands of the blown-up Jones, the washed-up Tyson or the fed-up Lewis. It is surely in those of the dignified brethren from Ukraine, Wladimir and Vitali.

Wladimir, 27, the younger and better of the two, was in action last night, defending his World Boxing Organisation version of the title in Hanover against South African Corrie Sanders. Vitali, 31, who would be more than a handful for most heavyweights outside the élite, was lined up to meet Lewis as a prelude to his brother challenging Lewis in what was projected as the endgame of the Briton's career, following a return with Tyson.

But it did not materialise, and now Vitali is named as the next challenger for Jones's WBA belt, should Jones wish to defend it. Vitali would be a more difficult proposition than Ruiz – and Wladimir even more so. Wladimir, the 1996 Olympic champion, is 6ft 6in, and Vitali at 6ft 8in is the the tallest world-class heavyweight around.

The Americans, with their ingrained ignorance of most things European, are largely unaware of the towering presence of the sons of a former Soviet air force colonel. All except the TV organisation HBO (Home Box Office), who certainly see the contracted Wladimir as the future of the heavyweight championship. Intriguingly, the brothers represent the changing landscape of heavyweight boxing, defying the stereotype. Both hold doctorates in sports science from the University of Kiev and can articulate in four languages, which they do for Unesco, who have awarded them the title "Heroes for Children" because of their work to facilitate the education of underprivileged youngsters.

These are charming, intelligent men who would be worthy heirs to the Lewis era. Vitali acknowledges that his brother is the superior of the two, but their German promoter, Klaus-Peter Kohl, says the plan is for both to hold versions of the world title at the same time. Not that they would ever fight each other.

Meantime it is back to reality over here. Audley Harrison's tenth – and last – opponent under his current BBC TV deal, at Wembley on 29 March, will be the 37-year-old Ratko Draskovic, an old banger from the Balkans who at least has never been stopped in 32 bouts.

Harrison maintains he does have genuine aspirations to succeed Lewis as a British world champion, but for the foreseeable future, if not for ever, he will need to steer clear of younger, sleeker models like the Klitschkos. One imagines Roy Jones, for all his worthiness at the weighting game, will do the same.