By Ismael AbduSalaam
Klitschko Stops Thompson in the 11th
Wladimir Klitschko continued his dominance of the
heavyweight division with an 11th round knockout over a game but
overmatched Tony Thompson this past Saturday (July 12).
Throughout the first six rounds, Thompson was able
to find success whenever he pressured a still gun-shy prone Klitschko. With a
240 pound plus frame, the challenger was able to muscle to the inside and land
sporadic hard lefts to the body, followed by clubbing rights to the head.
Still, the more skillful Klitschko was able to
score quick knockdown off the right hand in the second round.
Klitschko remained consistent with his powerful
right cross, and found a home for the punch repeatedly from the seventh round
on.
By the championship rounds, a worn down Thompson
was caught with another straight right behind a jab which sent him to the
canvas. With his energy spent and a cut over the right eye, Thompson slowly
rose by the count of nine only to see referee Joe Cortez call a halt to the
bout.
While the fight wasn’t a barnburner, it was a
significant improvement over Klitschko’s sloppy, pedestrian performance against
Sultan Ibragimov five months ago. The champion also pads his resume with his
sixth win over a top 10 ranked heavyweight.
Unfortunately, the barren wasteland that is the
heavyweight division does not have many challengers left for Klitschko. Samuel
Peter is still standing, but Dr. Steel Hammer already holds a win over the Nigerian
from their 2005 encounter. Plus that rematch has lost some luster after Peter
was nearly kayoed by Jameel McCline.
Ironically, the next big fight for Klitschko may
come from the cocky cruiserweight champ David Haye, who’s already on record as
stating the Klitschko-Thompson bout was lackluster.
Check out the two champs facing off. As much as I
like Haye, I see visions of Apollo Creed vs. Ivan Drago if this comes off.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnOANul82Tw
Pavlik-Williams a Strong Possibility
Maxboxing.com broke the story that middleweight
champion Kelly Pavlik is nearly signed to face two time WBO welterweight champ
Paul Williams on September 23 in Atlantic
City.
“I’m dealing with [Dan] Goossen, it’s a deal. But [it’s] not sure,” Arum told maxboxing.com. “You never know if it’s a deal. I
think there is a deal. But if my life depended on it, I wouldn’t swear to it.
With Goossen, you’re never quite sure.”
At first glance it seems peculiar that Arum would
match his fighter with a champion two weight classes below. But since Arthur
Abraham is tied up with a mandatory defense, it doesn’t seem as bad since
Williams is coming off an impressive, high profile destruction of Carlos
Quintana last month.
Still, Pavlik is too strong a puncher for Williams
and would likely brutally stop him. We should hope that their backup choice,
Allan Green, gets the call for what would be a more competitive bout with Pavlik
still the favorite.
Emanuel Augustus Signs On for Fight Night Round
4
Cult favorite and ESPN Friday Night Fights legend
Emanuel Augustus has announced a deal to feature his likeness in the 2009
edition of EA Sport’s Fight Night.
In the twilight of his career, the deal marks a
huge exposure opportunity for Augustus, who has had to deal with many
controversial and heartbreaking decision losses in his career.
“To all my doubters in the pro boxing industry now
that I am working with EA Sports I have definitely made it to the big time,”
Augustus released in a statement. “I hope my actions inside the ring and
outside the ring will turn all my doubters into Emanuel Augustus believers. I
want to thank all my fans for their continued support and I want to show
special appreciation to ‘Irish’ Micky Ward. We will forever be linked together
by our historic fight in 2001. Everyday Micky Ward continues to be a great
inspiration to me as I continue to move forward in my career.”
In his fourteen year career, Augustus has become a
fan favorite due to his bizarre “drunken master” style offense and fearlessness
to take on any fighter even on short notice.
His most famous bouts are his spirited efforts in
losing performances to Floyd Mayweather (2000) by TKO and Micky Ward (2001) by
decision.
Throwback Fighter of the Week: “Big” George
Foreman
The affable, product hawking George Foreman that
we see today is a far cry from the brutish, Sonny Liston molded Foreman of the ‘70s
that terrorized the heavyweight division.
After mowing down mostly easy competition, Foreman
earned in his first title shot against undefeated Muhammad Ali conqueror Joe
Frazier in 1973. All it took was two rounds for Foreman to drop Joe six times
in route to a merciful stoppage.
The following year he demolished Ken Norton in two
rounds before running into well prepared and motivated Ali. In one of the most
famous bouts in history, Ali outsmarted his younger and stronger foe with the
Rope-a-dope to score an upset 8th round stoppage. Foreman was never the same mentally after that
bout, taking two years off to recover.
He returned to barely survive a classic shootout
with Ron Lyle before knocking out Joe Frazier again in a return bout. After
being upset by slickster Jimmy Young he retired in 1977.
Returning 10 years later, Foreman was amazingly
able to compete with the top fighters due to his immense power and physical
strength. He eventually regained the title in 1994 against Michael Moorer
before retiring for good in 1997.
Foreman is considered by most to be one of the
powerful, physically and punch-wise, fighters in heavyweight history. His final
record stands at 76-5, 68 KOs.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL7KnkWWXbQ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0lRwBb9lbA