Las
Vegas, USA. 15th April, 2004. Maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture but
I'm not quite ready to jump on the bandwagon. I don't see why everyone
is calling for Wladimir Klitschko to retire. What I saw in his bout
with Lamon Brewster was a boxer who dominated 90% of the match. I saw a
fighter who executed a quick, powerful and educated left jab. I saw him
throwing a very accurate straight right hand behind the jab with authority.
You can educate a fighter to do all those things but you can not teach
a boxer how to absorb a punch. You have to give Lamon Brewster his due.
He took quite a shelling from Wlad and survived. Heart and whiskers will
take you a long way in this business. For his reward Lamon now owns a small
piece of the heavyweight pie. He is also looking at a hefty future payday.
Truth be told he was being outclassed up until the stoppage. There are
fighters of note out there that Wlad can beat. I really cannot see Mesi
beating Wlad and that would be a very attractive match for the fans. If
matched correctly Wladimir could work his way back into the ever changing
heavyweight picture. How about pairing him up with former titleholders
Michael Moorer or even comebacking Bruce Seldon ? Dominick Guinn needs
a high profile fight to jump start his sagging fortunes. There are still
a couple of guys out there named Tyson and Holyfield. Think they would
like a crack at Wladimir's questionable mandible ? There is serious money
to be made out there and that is the name of the game. So please explain
to me again, why should Wlad retire ? (JIM AMATO)
.
ROTWEILER KRASNIQI
SHOCKS IN STUTTGART
Stuttgart, Germany.
14th February 2004. Kosovan heavyweight, Luan 'The Rotweiler' Krasniqi,
26-1(14)
surprised a few pundits last night coming away with a twelve round majority
decision over defending European heavyweight champion,
Sinan Samil Sam.
It was Samil Sam's second loss in a row as he struggled to land clean on
Krasniqi. Many rounds were hard to call but it was Krasniqi with the crisper
work late on that stole the show with scores of 114-114; 115-113 and 116-113.
The win means the thirty-two year old's career is very much back on since
he suffered his only defeat via an eight round retirement from Polish veteran
Przemyslaw Saleta in July 2002. Since then Krasniqi has won six straight
and avenged that loss in with a one round demolition job over Saleta. Former
World Amatuer champ, Sinan Samil Sam drops to 18-2. On the undercard, useful
6'7" Ukrainian prospect Alexander 'Baby Face' Dimitrenko pummelled
South African Sam Ubokane to a fifth round stoppage. Also present
was Swedish up-and-comer Aldo Colliander who wasted little time
in stopping Hungarian journeyman Viktor Juhász in one round.
.
KLITSCHKO HAMMERS
JOHNSON IN TWO
New York, USA.
7th December 2003. Ukrainian puncher, Vitali Klitschko looked impressive
last night with a second-round win over Canada's Kirk Johnson in
New York. Klitschko was coming off a gutsy loss to Lennox Lewis, in what
was widely belived to be the Brits final fight last June. The German based
Kiev fighter was leading on all three scorecards when a bad cut ended his
contest with Lewis in the sixth round. In what was labelled an WBC eliminator
last night, both fighters started fast with plenty of punches in the opening
round, but Klitschko's power became evident in the second when he sent
Johnson to the canvas with a salvo of punches. Johnson made it to his feet,
but was again down as Klitschko finished him off with another combination.
Johnson had been due to fight Lewis before a shoulder injury allowed Klitschko
to step in and this bout was billed as a final eliminator for the WBC title
still held by the Briton. On the undercard, Baby Joe Mesi had to dig deep
to over come Monte Barrett via a majority decision over ten. Mesi, who
had stopped 25 of his previous 27 victims had Barrett down with a powerful
straight right in the fifth, but was picking himself up from the canvas
in the seventh. By the final round Mesi's left eye was heavilly swollen,
but was able to nick the decison with scores of 95-93, 94-93 and the other
card even.
.
KRASNIQI AND
BONIN LABOUR TO DECISION WINS
Munich, Germany.
31st August 2003. Useful Kosovan heavyweight Luan Krasniqi
needed
the full eight rounds to outpoint awkward Atlanta man, Doug Liggion
on the undercard in Munich last night. It was win number twenty three for
Krasniqi who is finding his way back since his brief reign as European
champion in 2002. Also up was Polish prospect Tomasz Bonin, who
got a good workout over the ever-reliable Garing Lane. The American
veteran, forty years old these days came in just shy of 300lbs but stuck
around for the full course to see Bonin earn his twentieth pro victory.
There were also wins for young twenty-one year old Alexander 'Baby Face'
Dimitrenko who decisioned Texan Kendrick Releford over six,
Big Serbian, Goran Gogic who stopped Marek Zelov in two rounds
and debutante Stefan Kober who decisoned fellow newcomer Dieter
Roth on the night.
.
BUSINESS AS USUAL
FOR VITALI KLITSCHKO
Hamburg, Germany.
24th August 2003. According to Boxing.de
Universum CEO Klaus-Peter Kohl has successfully negotiated the next fight
for Dr. Vitali Klitschko. The older of the two Klitschko brothers.
Vitali's stock rose considerably when he went toe to toe with Lennox Lewis
in Los Angeles last June. It is expected that HBO will broadcast Vitali
Klitschko’s fight live on December 6th. ”Now that we have agreed on the
date and the live broadcast on HBO, it won’t be difficult to find a high-class
opponent for Vitali”, said Kohl. “It’s got to be a top-ranked fighter because
in the Lewis fight Vitali has proven he is one of the best heavyweights
overall.” Lewis, who is 38 next month, threw doubt on his future in the
sport after announcing he will definately not be fighting any more in 2003.
“We respect Lennox’s decision and might fight him in 2004. However, Vitali
will procede with his career“, said Kohl. “In the U.S. there is big demand
for Vitali. In contrast to Lennox he’s eager to fight. We have to watch
the developments of the upcoming weeks and upcoming fights very closely.
Nevertheless, Vitali will definitely fight for the world championship in
the near future. If it might happen on December 6 – who knows?“.
.
AKINWANDE DECISONS
HOFFMAN IN GERMANY
Frankfurt, Germany.
1st June 2003. Henry Akinwande won the IBF Intercontinental heavyweight
title last night with a points victory over local favourite,
Timo Hoffmann
at
the Brandenburg-Halle in Frankfurt, Germany. Akinwande the former WBO champion
took a twelve round split decision over the German to move him back into
the world heavyweight picture. It was his fourth straight victory since
being stopped by Oliver McCall back in November 2001. It was Hoffmans first
defence of his title since lifting the crown 14 months ago. On the undercard,
another local Rene Dettweiler took a two round stoppage victory
over journeyman Frank Böhme. It was Dettweilers professional
debut.
.
SAMIL SAM STOPS
FRANCIS IN SEVEN
Schwerin, Germany.
27th April 2003. Sinan Samil Sam made his second successful defence
of his European title last night with a stoppage of former British champion,
Julius
Francis. The 38-year-old Londoner was dumped on the canvas twice in
front of 4,000 fans in Schwerin, Germany, and the fight was stopped in
the seventh round. But he had no complaints and said of Germany-based Sam:
"He's a good champion. "He's very young. I got hit very hard on the rips
and everything was okay. "I want to dedicate this fight to my sister, who
is in hospital. I tried to win this one for her but the loss was okay."
Sam, the heavy-handed 'Bull of Bosphorus', held the upper hand throughout
as he made his second defence but rarely threatened the defensive-minded
Francis before two knock-downs in the seventh round. He hit with a flurry
of hard punches to head and body and Francis went down with one minute
56 seconds to go in the seventh. The Brit scrambled back to his feet but
would soon made a second visit to the canvas. Sam put him down with another
hard series with 1min 26secs to go and the referee eventually stopped the
contest with 1min 14secs left in the round. The bout began at a relatively
slow pace, although Sam was the more aggressive. "Sinan is a strong guy
and in the end landed a body shot with maximum effort," added Francis.
.
SANDERS SHOCKS
IN HANOVER
Hanover, Germany.
8th March 2003. South African, Corrie Sanders spoilt the party tonight
when he demolished the reigning WBO champion, Wladimir Klitschko
in two rounds at the Preussag Arena in Hanover, Germany. The thirty-seven
year old veteran came out swinging from the opening bell and had Klitschko
down twice from heavy left hands infront of a stunned crowd. Though Wladimir
made it to the end of the round, Sanders carried on where he left off letting
fly with bombs and again the young Ukrainians legs gave way and crumbled
to the canvas. Though he made the count,Wladimir was immediately back on
the ropes taking punishment and a right to the head and left uppercut to
the chin persuaded referee Genero Rodriquez to call it off at 2:33 of the
second round. Sanders who was sparring with Ross Purrity the only other
fighter to beat Klitschko, had reportedly discussed fight strategy with
WBC champ Lennox Lewis last night though fast starts are not uncommon for
Sanders who has 18 first round stoppages. The win see's Sanders rise to
39-2(29).
Las
Vegas, USA. 15th April, 2004. Maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture but
I'm not quite ready to jump on the bandwagon. I don't see why everyone
is calling for Wladimir Klitschko to retire. What I saw in his bout
with Lamon Brewster was a boxer who dominated 90% of the match. I saw a
fighter who executed a quick, powerful and educated left jab. I saw him
throwing a very accurate straight right hand behind the jab with authority.
You can educate a fighter to do all those things but you can not teach
a boxer how to absorb a punch. You have to give Lamon Brewster his due.
He took quite a shelling from Wlad and survived. Heart and whiskers will
take you a long way in this business. For his reward Lamon now owns a small
piece of the heavyweight pie. He is also looking at a hefty future payday.
Truth be told he was being outclassed up until the stoppage. There are
fighters of note out there that Wlad can beat. I really cannot see Mesi
beating Wlad and that would be a very attractive match for the fans. If
matched correctly Wladimir could work his way back into the ever changing
heavyweight picture. How about pairing him up with former titleholders
Michael Moorer or even comebacking Bruce Seldon ? Dominick Guinn needs
a high profile fight to jump start his sagging fortunes. There are still
a couple of guys out there named Tyson and Holyfield. Think they would
like a crack at Wladimir's questionable mandible ? There is serious money
to be made out there and that is the name of the game. So please explain
to me again, why should Wlad retire ? (JIM AMATO)
