Wladimir Klitschko retained his WBO, IBO and IBF world heavyweight championship titles when he knocked out Samuel Peter of Nigeria on Saturday.
The Ukrainian floored his opponent in the 10th round with a flurry of punches to the head of the “Nigerian Nightmare” to claim his 55th win in 58 fights and the 49th by knockout.
Peter keeled over backward and never looked like making the count as the fight came to a dramatic end.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Until then, the Nigerian had frustrated Klitschko and the 40,000 crowd at the Eintracht Frankfurt soccer arena without staking a real claim for the titles.
Peter had never been counted out before.
“Samuel Peter is a very aggressive boxer. I have great respect for him and he fought to the last punch,” said Klitschko, 34, in the ringside interview.
Klitschko controlled the fight from the second round, hurting the Nigerian with some left-right combinations.
He struck Peter with a vicious uppercut in the sixth round, by which time the Nigerian already had a swollen right eye.
Klitschko used his jab to wear down his opponent and by the ninth round, his win looked only a matter of time.
Klitschko finished the fight with one minute and 22 seconds of the 10th round remaining.
■GAMBOA VS SALIDO
AFP, LAS VEGAS
World Boxing Association featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa outpointed Orlando Salido to take the International Boxing Federation belt on Saturday.
The Cuban-born, Miami-based Gamboa improved to 19-0.
The three ringside judges unanimously gave the fight to Gamboa by scores of 116-109, 114-109 and 115-109.
Mexico’s Salido would have lost his title no matter the outcome after weighing in on Saturday at 138 pounds after weighing 126 pounds on Friday.
Had he won, the title would have become vacant.
■MOLITOR VS BOOTH
AP, SUNDERLAND, England
Steve Molitor of Canada retained his IBF super bantamweight title with a majority decision against English challenger Jason Booth on Saturday.
Molitor was favored by two judges 116-113 and 116-112, while the third called it even.
“He came with a good game plan,” Molitor told Sky Sports.
“He was more awkward than I thought. He didn’t hit hard, but he was fast and creative,” he said.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The horn sounded on Wednesday night to signal a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, as the Florida Panthers celebrated merely by hopping over the boards and several heading over to congratulate goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. It was a subdued celebration seemingly more befitting a regular-season win for the reigning Cup champs. “I remember a few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said, adding: “It’s all business and we’ve got a bigger goal in mind.” The Panthers closed out the Carolina Hurricanes in five games, with a 5-3 victory in
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on
RSS