AFP Photo DDP / Torsten Silz Germany out
Dr. Steelhammer knocks Chagaev out to keep title
Published 21 June, 2009, 02:05
Wladimir Klitschko defeated Ruslan Chagaev with a technical knockout in front of 61,000 fans at Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
Klitschko, the IBF and WBO heavyweight champion, relied on a powerful left-right combination to send Chagaev to the mat in the second round and, in the eighth round, took advantage of a cut that opened over the Uzbekistan-born fighter’s left eye.
Referee Eddie Cotton awarded the fight to Klitschko at the opening of the tenth round.
Chagaev, who has a tenuous grasp on the WBA belt as 'champion in recess', did manage to break inside Klitschko’s defenses with a blow that caused a deep bruise under Klitschko’s right eye, but he was done in by the Ukrainian’s 5-inch (13-centimeter) height advantage and superior punching power.
Saturday’s loss was the Uzbek’s first one in the professional ring.
The bout was held in front of the largest German boxing audience in seventy years.
Chagaev was initially scheduled to fight Russia's WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolay Valuev on May 30 in Helsinki, but the bout was called off after the ‘champion in recess’ was diagnosed with a mild form of Hepatitis B, and was unable to meet the Finnish boxing federation's medical requirements.
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