Wladimir Klitschko earned the 17th defense of his world heavyweight crowns with a fifth-round knockout of Kubrat Pulev on Saturday to secure the 53rd KO of his career.
The 38-year-old inched closer to the legendary Joe Louis’ record of 25 heavyweight defenses when he put the Bulgarian down for the fourth time, 2 minutes, 11 seconds into the round.
Klitschko dominated the fight in one of the most impressive displays of his career as he prepares to become a father next month with girlfriend, actress Hayden Panettiere of US series Heroes and Nashville.
Photo: Reuters
The Ukrainian champion paid tribute to his countrymen in their ongoing military struggle against Russia after the bout in his adopted hometown of Hamburg, Germany.
“I want to dedicate this victory to my compatriots in the Ukraine, who are experiencing difficult times,” said Klitschko, whose brother, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, a former world champion, was in his corner.
“Pulev put in a good performance and I give him respect. He made it hard to land the left hook by staying out of range, but I managed to land a lot of punches and I’m glad it worked out in the end,” Wladimir Klitschko said.
The Ukrainian fighter retains his IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO belts to remain the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world after the 63rd victory of his career and used his left hook to devastating effect.
Pulev was on the canvas twice in the first round after an explosive start by both the world champion and the IBF’s mandatory challenger.
The Bulgarian was quickly on his feet, grinning and balancing on one leg in a bid to prove he was unaffected, but Wladimir Klitschko was soon on top again.
He put Pulev on the canvas with a fierce left hook in the third round, as a cut opened under the challenger’s left eye, but he survived referee Tony Weeks’ count.
It has been more than a decade since Wladimir Klitschko’s last defeat — to Lamon Brewster in April 2004 — and the champion was clearly on top by the fourth round.
He caught the Bulgarian flush in the face with a left hook early in the fifth round and another ended the fight as Pulev went down for the fourth and final time.
The defeat was the first of the 33-year-old’s career after 11 knockouts in 20 victories and despite his prefight promises, the challenger failed to trouble the champion.
“I’m happy with myself, but I think [Wladimir] Klitschko had a bit of luck,” Pulev said before being taken to hospital for treatment.
The Rakuten Monkeys on Sunday downed the CTBC Brothers 2-1, handing the hosts their second consecutive loss in the best-of-seven CPBL Taiwan Series at the Taipei Dome. Monkeys’ ace starter Pedro Fernandez of the Dominican Republic dominated on the mound, cruising through six scoreless innings before giving up a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning. He gave up only three hits and walked two batters in a 93-pitch outing, giving his Taoyuan-based team an edge. Offensively, the Monkeys’ leadoff batter Lin Li hit Brothers starter Brandon Leibrandt’s pitch over the center-field wall in the game’s first at-bat,
The tiny village club of Mjallby AIF on Monday won the top tier Swedish soccer league with a 2-0 away win at IFK Gothenburg, sealing the title with three rounds of matches remaining. Jacob Bergstrom and Tom Pettersson scored the goals in Mjallby’s 20th win in 27 league games. Mjallby has a population of fewer than 1,400 people and plays in an outdated 6,000-seat stadium with stands weathered by the winds of the Baltic Sea. “It’s a huge relief to experience this now, a relief with three games to go,” said Anders Torstensson, a former army officer and secondary-school teacher who coaches the
Jahmyr Gibbs was offered oxygen on the bench after a 78-yard run. He turned it down. Clearly, he was not out of breath. Gibbs on Monday scored on a long sprint in the second quarter, a five-yard spinning plunge in the third and accounted for a career-high 218 yards from the scrimmage to lead the Detroit Lions in a 24-9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “You felt like this was coming,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said. “This has been building.” The Lions (5-2) bounced back from a loss as they have done flawlessly for nearly three years, extending their NFL-long streak of 51 games
Rafael Leao on Sunday shot AC Milan to the top of Serie A with a brace in a 2-1 win over ACF Fiorentina who were enraged by the “scandalous” awarding of the penalty that decided the game. Portugal winger Leao pushed Milan one point ahead of local rivals Inter, SSC Napoli and AS Roma with a coolly taken spot-kick, given for what looked like a soft foul on Santiago Gimenez by Fabiano Parisi, with four minutes remaining. That goal capped a fine first league start of the season for Leao and came after he drew the hosts level with a brilliantly struck
RSS