Klitschko wins in another lackluster bout…

By Rui Zheng

Klitschko’s win over Sultan Ibragimov in early 2008 was a dominant performance by the consensus top heavyweight in the world.  However when pitted against a completely overmatched opponent in Ibragimov, Klitschko was content to simply outpoint and outlast the inferior Ibragimov rather than strive for the knockout.  Whether Klitschko was afraid he might relive another embarrassing knockout at the hands of a southpaw or perhaps he just wanted to play it safe, we’ll never know.  But when Klitschko faced top contender Tony Thompson on Saturday, both he and the boxing public knew he had to put in a spectacular performance to redeem his last bout.

Now a little on Tony Thompson.  Going into the fight, Tony Thompson had not lost a bout in 8 years.  And he has faced some decent names while compiling his winning streak; names consisting of Luan Krasniqi, Timor Ibragimov, Dominick Guinn, and Vaughn Bean.  Not exactly the cream of the crop of the heavyweight division, but then again, his resume contained some respectable gatekeepers, contenders, and a former title holder in Bean.  On film, Thompson is a giant of a heavyweight and seemed to utilize his height to his advantage.  Against average competition, Thompson could put together some combinations, but he just didn’t appear to have the coordination, power, nor the athleticism to upset Klitschko. 

Let’s clear some things up about Wladimir Klitschko.  First of all, Klitschko's weak chin will always leave him open to be knocked out. Although the giant Ukrainian has a tremendous jab and serious offensive power, his not-so tremendous jaw and upright defense put him at risk against anyone who might want to take a chance, step right in, and go for the knockout.  Second of all, it would be very hard to outbox Wlad and extremely dangerous to trade punches with him. But there is also a very good chance of scoring a knockout if anyone takes it to him and mixes it up. Due to his defensive liabilities, sooner or later, someone's gonna step up and knock him out again.

What everyone fails to do against Klitschko is to feint him to draw a jab and then taking TWO steps in before throwing the bomb. Everyone takes only one step in because that's what comes most naturally, but Klitschko is so tall, that leaning back keeps his opponent's punch out of reach. It's how Rahman knocked out Lennox Lewis when he caught him leaning away. Klitschko also tends to lean back away from the right hand very often. But while in the leaning back position, there is a split second where these leaning-backers are totally vulnerable. It's also how Norton was able to steadfastly land his right against Ali. All he did all night was either feint or jab, and then take two steps in before unleashing the right.  But the skill is in having head movement as you're stepping in after your jab/feint and keeping your balance so at the end of the second step, you're still set to throw a right.

To put it simply, Thompson did not have the skillset to beat Klitschko.  He gave the Ukrainian some trouble in 1st and 4th round, but other than that, Klitschko’s more compact and powerful punches wore the American down.  But Thompson did reinforce the notion that Klitschko struggles with southpaws.  Thompson was outlanding Klitschko for the initial portion of the fight, albeit he was throwing arm punches rather than using the torque of his body like Klitschko.  Thompson seemed to land left shots to the body at will, with Klitschko seemingly unable to defend against the punch.  As stamina played much into the fight in the latter portion, Thompson finally was put down by a giant right hand from the heavyweight champion in round 11.

The result “Klitscko KO11 Thompson” can be deceiving.  Klitschko seemed content to pick his shots against his opponent and clinched far too many times for my taste.  Furthermore, with cruiserweight king David Haye moving up in weight and publicly calling Klitschko out, the giant Ukrainian might want to start worrying if he continues to perform like this.  Both Haye and Klitschko have comparable power, with Haye possessing the superior hand speed, reflexes, and more variety and Klitschko having a tighter defense, more discipline, and being the bigger man.  Both fighters’ chins are questionable and they're both very tentative until something lands.  Haye’s heavyweight debut, assuming it’s against a respectable opponent, will answer a lot of questions about his place in the division.

Every so often I’ll update my top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.  With Pacquiao’s dominant win over David Diaz, he is the top boxer on my list followed by Wales’ Joe Calzaghe.  The complete list is as follows:

1.) Manny Pacquiao
2.) Joe Calzaghe
3.) Juan Manuel Marquez
4.) Miguel Cotto
5.) Kelly Pavlik
6.) Israel Vazquez
7.) Cristian Mijares
8.) Bernard Hopkins
9.) Joan Guzman
10.) Rafael Marquez