Ringside Boxing Report: Wladimir Klitschko vs. Sultan Ibragimov
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Saturday night in New York City at Madison Square Garden, Wladimir Klitschko, 50-3 (44), unified the IBF, IBO and WBO Heavyweight titles by defeating formerly unbeaten Sultan Ibragimov, 22-1-1 (17), in front of a very vocal group of 14,011 fans by scores of 119-110, 118-110 and 117-111.
Boxing fans can be a fickle bunch. It could be the fans felt that all the fights should end in a knockout considering the undercard bouts scored four KOs out of the six bouts. More likely it was the lack of action that caused the fans to go from cheering to booing as the fight progressed through twelve rounds of non-action.
The Compubox final punchstats clearly showed the lack of action during the bout. Klitschko landed 148 of 348 punches, that averaged out to him landing 12 of 29 punches per round.
Ibragimov landed only 97 of 316 punches, which averaged out to him landing a dismal 8 of 26 punches per round. For the record, Compubox indicates the average heavyweight throws an average of 46 punches per round.
The frustrating part of watching the match was that Klitschko seemed to land when he threw punches. His Compubox punchstats indicated him landing 43% of his punches thrown. But he continued to hold back his right and not let it go even after his trainer Emmanuel Steward would implore him to use it.
Klitschko seemed reluctant to engage or take any risks during the fight. He seemed to block the jabs of Ibragimov by pawing them down and would later say in the post fight interview that he did not want to throw the right for fear of being put out of position allowing Ibragimov to counter punch.
Perhaps Klitschko had visions of past performances and although had done well against southpaw Chris Byrd he suffered multiple knockdowns and a loss to southpaw Corrie Sanders because he just could not see the straight lefts coming at him.
However looking at the fight from another perspective such as maybe Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s, Klitshcko fought the perfect fight. He clearly dominated the bout, he did not get hit or put himself at risk and refused to engage his opponent in a brawl.
If you look past the fans reaction and even Klitshcko’s trainer Emmanuel Steward who were all looking for a knockout Klitshcko did everything right. Not too long ago when he suffered his loss to Brewster in their first outing he threw a lot of punches, expended all his energy and besides getting knocked out could not come close to finishing twelve rounds.
Klitschko has now been able to improve his skills, fight at a measured pace and reserve enough energy to finish the bout. He is also the only heavyweight to begin to try and unify the muddied division.
The old boxing saying, “styles make fights†holds true and these were two styles that did not make for a good fight. Even more concerning is WBA Heavyweight Champion Ruslan Chagaev has a very similar style to Ibragimov and if we are all hoping for a unified heavyweight champion we may be in store for a similar outcome. We should be careful what we wish for because we may just get it.
Middleweight John Duddy, 24-0 (17), edged out a majority decision against Walid Smichet, 17-4-3 (13), in a bloody contest with scores of 95-95 and 98-92 twice. Duddy could best be compared to an Irish Arturo Gatti with the types of performances he displays in the ring.
Smichet made a statement in the first round landing several power shots and cutting Duddy early in the fight. Over the course of the fight Duddy outboxed Smichet but took several power shots in the process.
Sitting ringside to watch the co-feature was promoter Bob Arum and Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik who are considering Duddy for a June 7 showdown at Madison Square Garden .
Duddy has a crowd pleasing style, comes to fight and has tremendous heart but his inability to get out of the way of punches would be a disaster against the hard-hitting Kelly Pavlik.
Middleweights: 12 Rounds
Joe Greene, 18-0 (14), RTD10 Francisco Mora, 52-13 (35)
Cruiserweights: 10 Rounds
Jonathon Banks, 19-0 (14), TKO1 Imamu Mayfield, 25-9-2 (18)
Super Middleweights: 6 Rounds
Peter Quillin, 17-0 (14), KO2 Thomas Brown, 11-4-1 (7)
Heavyweights: 4 Rounds
Alexander Ustinov, 8-0 (8), TKO1 Earl Ladson, 13-12-1 (7)
Light Middleweights: 4 Rounds
Ronnie Vargas, 6-0 (4), UD4 Monyette Flowers, 4-9-1 (2)