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HBO World Championship Boxing Recap

December 13, 2008

SAP-Arena-Mannheim, Germany

IBF/IBO/WBOHeavyweight (200+ pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Dr. Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KO's, 245 pounds) (c) vs. Hasim Rahman (45-6-2, 1 ND, 36 KO's, 253.5 pounds)

Klitschko won both his IBF and IBO titles from Chris Byrd via technical knockout at 41 seconds of round 7 on April 22, 2006 at the same building that is hosting this event. Byrd was the IBF champion entering the match, but not the IBO Champion. That belt was vacant, after its previous holder, Lennox Lewis, retired. Klitschko is making his sixth defense of these titles.

The boxer who holds a PH. D. in Sports Science from Kiev University won his WBO Championship in an ugly 12-round unanimous decision over Sultan Ibragimov on February 23, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Klitschko used a bizarre strategy in that match of trying to knock down Ibragimov's lead hand. The move rarely generated any offense and produced one of the most boring championship matches of the year. The original recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/7/13/recap-of-wladimir-klitschkos-last-match.html Klitschko is making his second defense of this title.

Klitschko was a great amateur boxer. His career culminated when he took home the gold medal for the Ukraine at super heavyweight (200+ pounds) at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympiad.

The Ukrainian has been struggling to earn the recognition as the top heavyweight in the world and a potentially an all-time great heavyweight champion. Unfortunately for Klitschko, there is only 1 man on today's boxing landscaping that Wladimir could beat to earn that recognition, his older brother Vitali Klitschko. Noted boxing writer Brian Doogan wrote that the only other way Wladimir can get the respect he desperately desires without going through Vitali is borrow H.G. Wells' (or Orlando Jordan's) time machine and box in another era. The heavyweight boxing division is bad right now and bereft of stars. The most marketable match up is Klitschko vs. Klitschko. However, the brothers insist it will never happen, even for the huge money that match would solicit.

Klitschko's last match was a knockout victory over Tony Thompson on July 12, 2008 at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany. Thompson gave Klitschko the most statistically competitive match of his career. In rounds 4 and 5, Thompson set new CompuBox records for total punches landed on Klitschko in any round. In round 4, Thompson landed 18 total punches breaking the previous record of 17 total connects in a round. In round 5, Thompson did even better landing 21 total punches breaking the record he had just set. Unfortunately for Thompson, Klitschko landed the better punches in rounds 4 and 5 to win them both, 10-9, and began to break the challenger's will. In round 8, Thompson set the record for most total punches landed on Klitschko in a match, passing ray Mercer's record of 124 total connects. However, at that point it was clearly just a matter of time until the big Ukrainian finished the American. Klitschko who had been criticized for being overly reliant on his left jab decided to showcase his powerful right hand against Thompson. A right hand that was so fast the commentators could not see it in real time when it put Thompson down for the 10-count at 1:38 of round 11. The CompuBox numbers for that match were very deceptive. Klitschko was out-landed in the total punches category 150-121 and Thompson out-landed Klitschko in the power punches category 93-85. However, Klitschko controlled this match and did a lot to redeem his poor performance against Ibragimov. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/12/17/recap-of-dr-wladimir-klitschko-vs-tony-thompson.html

Klitschko is The Ring magazine's number 1 contender to their vacant heavyweight championship.

Rahman took up boxing very late in life and turned pro after a brief amateur career. However, he picked up the sport quickly at the pro level and would go on to capture the heavyweight title in The Ring's 2001 Upset of the Year defeating Lennox Lewis via knockout at 2:32 of round 5 on April 22, 2001 at Carnival City in South Africa.

Rahman's career has been pretty much all downhill from there. His last major match was for the WBC Heavyweight Championship that he had gained when Vitali Klitschko "retired". On August 12, 2006, Oleg Maskaev took Rahman's trinket by stopping the champion via technical knockout at 2:17 of round 12 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Baltimore, Maryland native took some time off after that loss and began a comeback in a match with Taurus Sykes on June 14, 2007 at the Main Street Armory in Rochester, New York. Rahman won the embarrassingly bad match via 10-round unanimous decision. However, he was out of gas by round 4. There was so little action that the Versus commentators joked that the boxers must have signed a non-aggression pact before the match. The original recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/12/17/recap-of-hasim-rahman-vs-taurus-sykes.html

Rahman is getting this title match by default. Alexander Povetkin was scheduled to use his IBF sanctioned mandatory title shot against Klitschko tonight. However, Povetkin injured his ankle running in preparation for this match. The promoters wanted Chris Arreola. However, Arreola was already booked into another match to be the next IBF mandatory challenger after Povetkin. Rahman was ranked highly by the IBF, therefore the sanctioning body signed off that he could count as Klitschko's mandatory defense. This match was viewed so poorly by HBO that they were considering not airing the show after Povetkin was pulled and replaced with Rahman. Rahman was considered to face Nikolai Valuev, but Valuev's promoter thought that Evander Holyfield, who has not boxed in over a year was a better match up for their boxer.

Despite having several weeks to train since Povetkin pulled out of this match in October, Rahman appears completely unprepared for this match. Rahman flew into Germany about 2 days before the match and is heavily jet-lagged.The challengeris so jet-lagged that he nearly fell asleep at the pre-match press conference. About a week before the match, Rahman fired his trainer and brought on a new trainer, Buddy McGirt,who could work with the challenger for the 2 days he was virtually sleep walking in Germany. This is Rahman's first match outside of the United States, since he defeated Lennox Lewis over 7 years ago. An aging world title challenger should be in town at least or week or two before the match to get adjusted to the different climate and time change. (Riddick Bowe who is making a comeback on the under card has been in Germany since October.) Rahman is entering this match 10 pounds heavier then he weighed-in for his last match in July. An aging world title challenger needs to show up for potentially their last title shot in shape and having worked with their trainer for more then 2 days.

Rahman's last match was a no decision versus James Toney onJuly 16, 2008 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. Toney dominated Rahman in the 3 rounds that the match lasted. However, Rahman was cut by a brutal unintentional clash of heads in round 3. After round 3, Rahman told the doctor that he could not see clearly and the match was immediately stopped. Somehow there was a mistake and it was announced that Toney had won via technical knockout, because Rahman had said he could not continue. Rahman appealed the decision to the California State Athletic Commission, since the match was stopped before the end of round 4 because of a cut caused by an unintentional foul. Under the rules that should have made the match a no decision. The commission agreed and changed the outcome. However, it did not change the fact that Toney was the better boxer in the ring that night.

Rahman is unranked by The Ring and the number 15 ranked heavyweight in the world by boxrec.com.

At 32-years-old, Klitschko is 4 years younger then the 36-year-old Rahman. Klitschko has the height advantage standing 6' 6" tall, while Rahman stands 6' 2.5" tall. Rahman has the reach advantage with a 29" arm length measured from the armpit to the end of the fist, compared to the 26" arm length of Klitschko. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match timeis available. However, their weights should be roughly the same as what they weighed-in at, meaning Rahman will be the heavier boxer in the ring. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this match. The official judges keeping score of this match from ringside are from Italy, the United States, and Germany. The referee is Tony Weeks. Harold Lederman will keeping HBO's unofficial scorecard for this match.

Klitschko dominates round 1 landing his jab and repeated hard power punches on Rahman to take the round, 10-9. Lederman scores round 1 for Klitschko, 10-9. The champion has started this match better then he has started any of his last 4 matches and looks terrifying. The HBO commentators note that the Ukrainian's glower has improved and he has looked at Rahman with seeming disgust from the moment he walked into the ring. Additionally, Klitschko's chiseled physique appears to have improved. The champion has a body Vince McMahon would drool over. If Klitschko ever went to WWE he would be a world champion in 6 months. He naturally has a better body then Triple H and speaks excellent English. Klitschko speaks 4 other languages too, which helps doing promotional work for his matches. Klitschko holds Rahman on the inside a lot in round 2 to prevent the smaller boxer from working in close. The champion is not issued a warning for the infraction, though. On the outside, Klitschko lands his jab repeatedly to win round 2, 10-9. Klitschko takes round 2 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Rahman used a horrendous tactic for 2 minutes of round 3, while his new trainer yelled at him to stop doing it. The challenger decided to stand with his back against the ropes and just put up a high guard letting Klitschko hit him. It appears Rahman was trying to look for Klitschko to make a mistake and then the American would counter scoring the miraculous knockout. Unfortunately for the challenger, Klitschko was way too smart to fall into that trap. Klitschko paced himself and systematically landed jabs and straight right hands on the willing target. The champion takes round 3 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. After 3 rounds, we both have Klitschko winning the match, 30-27. It appears Rahman has already gone into desperation mode and this match should not last much longer. Through 3 rounds, Klitschko has landed 76 of the 161 total punches he has thrown for a 47% total connect percentage. Through 3 rounds, Rahman has only landed 15 of the 104 total punches he has thrown, for a 14% total connect percentage. Rahman looks completely blown up in his corner after round 3.

Klitschko dominates Rahman to win round 4, 10-9. The champion has been so dominant that round 3 and 4 could have been scored for Klitschko, 10-8. An exhausted Rahman is waiting for Klitschko to tire himself out hitting the American in the face. However, Klitschko has shown incredible stamina recently and can box at this pace all night. Klitschko's punches are getting more accurate as the match goes on and Rahman appears embarrassingly out of shape for a boxer trying to win a match on conditioning. Lederman scores round 4 for Klitschko, 10-9. The beating Klitschko is putting on Rahman is starting to get to be too much in round 5. The champion takes round 5, 10-9. Rahman's corner may want to stat thinking about stopping this match. They are giving Rahman excellent advice. However, Rahman appears unable to hear it. Rahman is so gassed that between rounds he is closing his eyes and apparently using all the time to recover his energy. Lederman scores round 5 for Klitschko, 10-9. After 5 rounds, we both have Klitschko ahead in the match, 50-45.

Lennox Lewis and Max Kellerman, who are doing color commentary of this event for HBO, had an interesting exchange during round 5. Lewis commented that he finished an in his prime Rahman in 4 rounds and Klitschko had not finished a past his prime Rahman in 5 rounds as a point of historical comparison between the 2 heavyweight champions. Kellerman then said that was true, but people would never truly know who was the better boxer between Lewis and Klitschko. He then jokingly asked Lewis if people would ever know who was the better boxer? Lewis who has been repeatedly asked to come out of retirement to face the Klitschko brothers responded with 10 seconds of silence, before saying that people would be able to form an opinion after watching this match. Jim Lampley, who is doing play-by-play of this event for HBO, jumped in at this point to say that what Lewis meant is that the Englishman had formed an opinion. Lewis seemingly responded with glee that he had. The hall-of-famer feels confident his legacy as the last great heavyweight is secure.

Apparently, Rahman received a small cut over his right eye in round 5. The referee is ruling the cut was caused by a punch. The cut is tiny and should not factor in this match. A series of left hooks sends Rahman to the canvas with 2:41 to go in round 6. The referee hesitantly lets Rahman continue with 2:25 to go in the round. However, the referee told Rahman he will stop it quickly if the challenger gets in trouble. Rahman has practically no chance to make it out of this round. Klitschko became very deliberate after the knockdown and allowed Rahman to finish round 6 standing. That was despite the fact that Rahman reverted to his earlier failed tactic of standing against the ropes and not punching. Klitschko could have taken advantage of Rahman's high guard by throwing a body punch, because the challenger's body was completely unprotected. However, Klitschko was predictably throwing left jabs and straight rights down the middle, which Rahman was able to partially deflect. Klitschko wins round 6, 10-8. After round 6, the referee went to Rahman's corner and told the boxer that if he (Rahman) continued to take more hard punches the match would be stopped. Rahman is getting a huge break courtesy of German television. Normally there is only 1 minute in between rounds. However, there is normally 1:15 between rounds in this match, buying Rahman some much needed extra time to recover and get his wind back. With 2:19 to go in round 7, Klitschko landed a combination that had Rahman staggering and the referee jumped in to end the match. It was a good stoppage.

The official outcome from Michael Buffer is that: at 44 seconds of round 7 the referee has stopped the contest making the winner by technical knockout and still Unified Heavyweight Champion of the World, "Dr. Steelhammer" Wladimir Klitschko. The win moves Klitschko to 52-3 with now 46 wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Klitschko landing 178 of the 369 total punches he threw, for a 48% total connect percentage. Klitschko has the best jab in the heavyweight division and landed 134 of the 251 jabs he threw, for an outstanding 53% jab connect percentage. The champion landed 44 of the 118 power punches he threw, for a 37% power connect percentage. Rahman landed 30 of the 207 total punches he threw, for a 14% total connect percentage. The vanquished challenger landed only 1 total punch in round 6, the round where he hit the canvas. Rahman landed 15 of the 151 jabs he threw, for a poor 10% jab connect percentage. The American landed 15 of the 56 power punches he threw, for a 27% power connect percentage. The majority of Rahman's power connects were body punches that had seemingly no effect on the champion.

Klitschko said in his post match interview that he expected Rahman's corner to stop the match earlier then the referee ended up stopping it. The champion says as he goes past 30-years-old he is getting better and entering the prime of his career. The scary thing is that is probably true. Klitschko said that he is looking forward to facing Povetkin, soon. Kellerman asked Klitschko about David Haye and the champion laughed and looked around. Haye has been ringside all night, being very visible to the champion. Haye even stopped to talk to fellow Englishman Lewis off camera to issue another challenge to Klitschko while the men were waiting for Buffer to read the final outcome. Klitschko did not directly answer Haye's challenge but said this is a very exciting time coming up for the heavyweight division. When asked about a potential match with his brother, Wladimir said it is more exciting to rule the heavyweight division with his brother then be the single ruler of the division.

The champion was great in this match. He is a dominant technical boxer. Klitschko still has flaws, but he is the legitimate number 1 ranked heavyweight in the world. The HBO commentators talked about how strange it is to think of a 32-year-old with 55 professional matches, who is the top ranked boxer in their division as a developing prospect. However, that is how people think of Klitschko. Klitschko can still add a lot of punches to his repertoire and do a lot more to be an exciting boxer. He does not like to throw body punches and his style is a bit methodical and predictable. Of course, even though Klitschko's opponents know what is coming, they cannot stop it. The Ukrainian continues to win in dominating fashion by throwing lots of jabs followed by the occasional straight right hand, and even more rarely mixing in a left hook. Klitschko is obligated to face Povetkin before September 13, 2009. His post match interview indicated that will probably be his next match. Povetkin on paper is way too small for Klitschko, and the Russian is still green. Despite that, Povetkin should be one of the top 2 opponents Klitschko has faced since 2006. Klitschko also has to face Chris Arreola as a mandatory contender somewhere down the line. Arreola isprobably more out of shape than Rahman, but has much more punching power and a far worse chin. That match should be interesting and short. Haye will be left to Vitali.

Rahman was terrible in this match. He had a horrific strategy and came in embarrassingly out of shape. The heavyweight division is so weak that Rahman is still probably a top 20 boxer that should be able to headline television cards for years. However, his years as an elite heavyweight are far behind him.

This event is an easy skip. Klitschko seems too dominant to be entertaining.