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Wladimir Klitschko solidified his hold on his numerous world heavyweight titles last night at Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany, wiping out overmatched former WBA/WBC cruiserweight champion Jean Marc Mormeck.
Once the contest began, Mormeck, just 5’11 tall, shelled up without throwing a punch for the first minute, instead simply walking into the 6’6 Klitschko and burrowing into the massive Ukrainian’s chest. Once Mormeck tried to throw a punch, he was shaken by the first right hand landed by Klitschko near the end of the round.
Mormeck changed his approach in the second but ended up standing at the end of the champion’s reach, covering up and ducking the probing jab of Klitschko. Halfway through the frame a hard straight right brought the Frenchman to his knees.
The challenger regained his feet and didn’t seem seriously hurt but spent the rest of the round under heavy pressure although Klitschko could not get the knockout he was trying so hard to achieve.
The third was much like the second with the exception that Mormeck threw more punches although very few landed while Klitschko was steadily breaking down the much smaller man.
Mormeck started to pressure Klitschko in the fourth but spent most of his energy trying to avoid getting hit. This worked for about a minute until Klitschko nailed the challenger with a huge right that froze Mormeck in his tracks. A left hook to the forehead helped Mormeck fall to the canvas, where he was counted out upon regaining his feet on unsteady legs at 1:49 of the round.
Klitschko improves to 57-3 (50) while Mormeck sees a three bout win streak snapped, falling to 36-5 (22).
This contest was never remotely competitive and the mere fact that Mormeck was able to get a title shot illustrates the extent of just how much Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko have cleaned out the division.
On the undercard, cruiserweight Ola Afolabi, 19-2-3 (9), regained the Interim WBO belt by dropping ex-Interim WBA strapholder Valery Brudov, 39-4 (28), in the third and fifth rounds before winning the bout when Brudov retired before the start of the sixth.
Towering heavyweight hopeful Alexander Ustinov, 26-0 (20), remained undefeated by halting Kerston Manswell, 22-5 (17), at 1:18 of the third.
