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‘Wladimir Klitschko’
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By Boxing Press March 27th, 2009 All Press Releases
2004 US Olympian Jason “Big Six” Estrada held an open media workout today at his ”Big Six Academy” in Providence before he departs Sunday for Germany to fight Alexander Povetkin, 2004 Olympic gold medalist and the IBF’s No. 1 contender, April 4 in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Estrada, 15-1 (3), and Povetkin, 16-0 (12), nearly fought several times as amateurs but it never materialized, due to their contrasting schedules, until now as professionals. More...
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By Richard Eberline January 2nd, 2009 All Boxing Articles
2008 was a tumultuous year for the sweet science with a lot of big fights, big triumphs and big let downs.
Some of the boxers who won truly big fights in our recently departed year include Manny Pacquiao, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko, Joe Calzaghe, Chad Dawson, Ricky Hatton, Paul Williams, Tomasz Adamek, Carl Froch, Vernon Forrest, David Haye, Arthur Abraham, Vic Darchinyan, Daniel Santos, Antonio Margarito, Timothy Bradley, Nate Campbell, Israel Vasquez and Celestino Caballero.
Which three fighters do you think did the best job in 2008?
Send in a list of your top three to bonecrusher@fastmail.fm and we'll announce the results one week from today.
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By Daxx Kahn December 23rd, 2008 All Boxing Articles
At 32 years of age, Wladimir Klitschko has gone through almost every stage a fighter can as a professional. At one time, he was known in almost an Ivan Drago-like manner, a huge European with massive power but robotic movement.
After his loss to Corrie Sanders in 2003 and another at the hands of Lamon Brewster in 2004, both by KO, the label of of over-rated was attached, one that seemed like it could be there forever.
In 2005, Wlad yet again forced a reclassification of his status after beating undefeated Eliseo Castillo and Sam Peter and this time the label was the best heavyweight in the world.
In 2006, after winning another world title from Chris Byrd, knocking out highly regarded Calvin Brock, dismantling Ray Austin with one hand, winning the rematch with Brewster by KO then taking Sultan Ibragimov’s WBO strap in 2008, the doubts were certainly removed on exactly who ruled the roost of heavyweight boxing.
Why is it then after everything he's accomplished and overcome along with two title defenses in 2008 that Wladimir Klitschko is criticized? What more can the man do to leave his detractors behind? It is almost as if onlookers just beg for reasons to minimize his ability.
After establishing his status on top of the division he is now labeled “too cautious”. Of all things he is too cautious? Is there really nothing better to pick at? After all the questions have been asked about Wladimir, such as his ability and fortitude, I have to ask a question of my own. More...
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By Hermann Helmut December 14th, 2008 All Boxing Results
IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko was in action last night at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany and continued his hold on boxing's glamour division with a seventh round stoppage of former WBC, IBF and IBO champion Hasim Rahman.
Klitschko began controlling the pace of the bout immediately by establishing his accurate, heavy jab and showed good footwork to negate the efforts of Rahman to jab his way inside.
Big Wlad missed his first few right hands but one got in on Rahman behind a jab and the 253 pound American was pushed back several feet by its force. Klitschko closed out the round with a hard left hook that had the challenger holding on.
Rahman came out more aggressive in the second until he lost a battle of the right hands less than a minute into the frame. For the rest of the round, Rahman looked to keep Klitschko off with a few well-placed jabs but mostly focused on defense and working the body during clinches.
Near the end of the round, Klitschko danced away from a Rahman overhand right before coming back with another crisp straight right on the back end of a jab that rocked the challenger. More...
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By Danny Wilson December 13th, 2008 All Boxing Previews
An interesting bill shapes up tonight in the heavyweight division as weight class kingpin Wladimir Klitschko meets the challenge of former champion Hasim Rahman at the SAP Arena in Manheim, Germany.
Klitschko, 51-3 (45), looks to be on the best form of his career at 32 years of age and rides a nine bout win streak into this defense of his IBF,WBO and IBO belts.
The towering Ukrainian is coming off a sharp knockout win against American Tony Thomspon in July and hasn't had too much dificulty since coming off the canvas three times in 2005 to beat Samuel Peter.
Rahman, 45-6-2 (36), hasn't lost a bout since dropping a WBC title challenge to Oleg Maskaev in 2006, but the 36 year old from Baltimore hasn't been in with anyone of Big Wlad's caliber since getting poleaxed by Lennox Lewis in their rematch all the way back in 2001.
Boxing is all about unpredictability and sometimes even miracles and for Rahman to unseat Klitschko, he'll have to pull off the kind of hail mary right hand that he used to stop Lewis in their first bout.
It could happen, but very, very unlikely and this is almost certainly the last title opportunity Rahman will get unless he can manage to look very good against the top man in the division.
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By Danny Wilson July 20th, 2008 All Boxing Results
Top heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin, 16-0 (12), stayed busy in preparation to his likely challenge of World Champion Wladimir Klitschko later this year by overcoming America's Taurus Sykes, 25-5-1 (7), at 0:48 of the second round last night at Olimpyskiy Sports Palace in the Moscow suburb of Chekhov, Russia.
28 year old Moscow based Povetkin has impressed as a professional after capping off a sterling amateur career by winning the Gold Medal for Russia at super heavyweight during the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Since joining the punch for pay rat race in 2005, Povetkin has gone through opposition at an alarming rate, participating in four or five bouts a year and in addition to Sykes, has defeated Eddie Chambers, Chris Byrd and Larry Donald over the last 13 months.
Against Sykes, Povetkin looked like the world-beater who swept through the amateur ranks in the earlier part of this decade, mixing up his punches in a fluid, combination style that had the American looking for answers from the off.
A ten year pro, Sykes has faced good to decent competition in the form of Samuel Peter, Hasim Rahman, Owen Beck, Imamu Mayfield, Sherman Williams, Derek Bryant and Friday Ahunanya but was clearly out-boxed by the Russian gunner, hitting the floor in both the second and third frames, and after taking many flush punches was stopped at 0:48 of the fourth round. More...
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By Gerald Rice July 19th, 2008 All Boxing Articles
I'm amazed. After Wladimir Klitschko’s KO victory over Tony Thompson in Hamburg, Germany, a week ago, he should have risen in the esteem of boxing fans.
Thompson was a credible threat whose only other loss occurred eight years ago. In a bout where Klitschko showed his ability to control an opponent, dictate a pace and reaffirm his punching power against said threat, he seems to have even eroded even further down the pound-for-pound list.
Perhaps fans are overly critical of him because of the “state” the division is in. Heavyweights aren’t as exciting as they’ve been in the past and compare weakly with their welterweight or super middleweight counterparts. But how much of that is fair?
Two years ago, no one was talking about the super middleweights, just the thimbleful of names who were in it. With fighters like Jermain Taylor moving up, Mikkel Kessler becoming known in the US and Kelly Pavlik straddling the fence between the super middleweight and middleweight divisions, it has spelled instant excitement whenever there is mention of anything at 168 pounds.
The welterweight division has always kept a rotating stable of elite fighters and quite frankly, is a lot deeper than heavyweight, and logic follows reason that it would have more elite fighters because it has more fighters.
But what are people not seeing when they see Klitschko fight? He has an 83% KO percentage, an amazing ratio at any weight when the fighter has over fifty fights. If you just consider his last ten fights, the percentage drops to 60.
Lennox Lewis only had a 72% KO percentage, Evander Holyfield 50%, Mike Tyson 75% and George Foreman 83%. And a weak division is a poor excuse. Mike Tyson didn’t fight the really elite fighters until the decline of his career. During his original reign as champion, there were no fighters like Lennox Lewis or Evander Holyfield on his résumé. The 90's were only marginally better than the 80's and if Holyfield had remained at cruiserweight, there would have been no wars with Bowe, Lewis or Tyson. More...
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By Hermann Helmut July 13th, 2008 All Boxing Results
The Cinderella story of Tony Thompson's world title dreams came crashing to the canvas in the 11th round last night at a packed Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany, courtesy of one too many right hands from IBF/WBO/IBO Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Thompson began the bout with plenty of gusto, successfully taking the fight to the champion in the initial frame, but was prevented from gaining too much momentum as Klitschko clinched and slowed the action down.
Klitschko was wary of Thompson, even more so after they were both cut from a clash of heads in the early going, but managed to regain control of the bout behind the jab and occasional sharp right cross.
Thompson tried to shake up the proceedings behind a body attack in the middle rounds, and although he enjoyed some success, the American couldn't dictate the pace of the fight as Klitschko found range just often enough to stay in the driver's seat. More...
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By Lee Bellfield July 12th, 2008 All Boxing Previews
Tonight in Hamburg, Germany, Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko defends his WBO and IBF Heavyweight titles against Tony Thompson.
In this one, Klitschko, for a change, will be facing an opponent almost equal to him in height. The American challenger from Washington DC stands 6 foot 5 inches tall and has a respectable record of 31 fights with only 1 defeat. He hold wins over divisional contenders Dominick Guinn, Timor Ibragimov and Luan Krasniqi.
Klitschko, the champion, now holds a record of 50 wins with only 3 defeats and for me, is still the best of the bunch at heavyweight currently. Although in an era where marquee heavyweight opponents are sadly lacking, Klitschko is doing the right thing by keeping himself busy and attempting to build a legacy that way.
While Thompson is a respected challenger, I feel his style will play straight into the champion's hands. The southpaw delivery of Thompson could be tricky for most opponents, but this time it could be the American's undoing as he will be vulnerable to the Ukranian's booming right hands when throwing his own left.
The Klitschko of 2008 is a more cautious fighter, but I feel after starting the bout behind his jab, he will begin to connect with his right hand to end the fight on a TKO around the midway mark.
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