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Doctor Steelhammer tames the Tiger

IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KOs) has successfully defended his belts against the number 1 contender Tony “The Tiger” Thompson (31-2, 19 KOs) from Washington D.C., USA. In front of a sellout crowd of 13.000 spectators at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany, Klitschko knocked out his opponent with a crushing right hand after 98 seconds of round 11.

For his part, Thompson had been waiting for some time at a title shot and had not lost a fight in the last eight years. At the time of the stoppage Klitschko was well ahead on all three scorecards after an entertaining and thrilling fight.

In the beginning it appeared to be quite a tough bout for Klitschko to shine, because in the early rounds he had a difficult time matching up against the southpaw Thompson, who used his height well to fight on the outside, scoring with his extremely long arms and his busy and awkward style.
Wladimir found himself stuck between a rock and hard place, since Thompson’s jab at times appeared to be more effective than Klitschko´s and Thompson also occasionally connected with some straight left hands. But Thompson is more of fighter that beats his opponents by landing an accumulation of blows rather than one big shot and Wladimir never seemed to be hurt.

In round 2 both fighters suffered cuts due to an accidental clash of heads, but neither of them seemed to be bothered. It was time to turn things around and Wladimir broke out of his tendency to avoid throwing his right hand and started connecting with powerful shots to Thompson´s head. The champion had found his composure now and started to dominate the brave American, winning every round and repeatedly connecting with huge right hands. Klitschko was continuously breaking down Thompson now and the spectacular end was imminent.

Klitschko undid the damage of his recent smart but kind of lackluster showing against Ibragimov by showing great heart and heavily chopping down the brave Thompson to truly win in style. Thompson surprisingly urged Wladimir to fight for his life – and that’s what the Ukrainian did.

Quotes:
Wladimir Klitschko: „This may sound strange to some people, but I really had great time and enjoyed myself in the ring tonight. Tony came to fight and he came to win, and I like that in a fight. I had a tough time adjusting to his awkward style, but after that the knockout punch was just a matter of time. The atmosphere in the arena was amazing, I truly love this city.”

Emanuel Steward: “I always knew this would be an extremely difficult fight. Thompson is a fantastic fighter with great defensive skills. But in the end when both guys got tired it was Wladimir´s experience that made the difference.”

Tony Thompson: „No matter what anybody might say: Wladimir is the best heavyweight in the world today, period. I never saw that right hand coming, it was a perfect punch. I am going back to the gym now, back to the drawing board, to regroup and get better. Hopefully I will get another title shot in the future, maybe Wlad grants me a rematch, who knows.”