LISTLESS KLITSCHKO TKO’S GOMEZ

Vitali Klitschko retained his WBC heavyweight title with a 9^th round TKO victory over Juan Carlos Gomez in Stuttgart, Germany on Saturday.  It wasn’t a particularly impressive performance by Klitschko despite earning knockdowns in the 7^th and 9^th rounds and he was clearly frustrated at times by the tactics and toughness of Gomez.  Vitali’s younger brother Wladmir holds the IBF and WBO World Championships and is considered by most boxing cognoscenti to be the legitimate claimant to the title.

Despite holding a significant height and reach advantage, Klitschko struggled to find his opponent in the early rounds.  In particular, he had difficulty establishing his jab due to Gomez’s defense and some apparent reticence to ‘let his hands go’.  Though he was never in trouble and kept piling up rounds, Klitschko was kept on the outside by Gomez’s solid right hand counters.  The challenger never really established any sustained offense of his own, but as he’d stay out of range and tie Klitschko up when he did get close enough to unload he did manage to survive more or less unscathed until the middle rounds of the fight.

At times it looked as if Klitschko was resorting to ‘headhunting’ as he looked for opportunities to load up a big shot in hopes of a one punch KO of the rugged Cuban defector Gomez.  As the fight wore on, however, Gomez began to tire and his defense started to wilt which provided an easier target for the champion.  Klitschko dropped Gomez to one knee with a big right hand in the 7^th round and sent him sprawling into the ropes with a similar punch in the 9^th.  Referee Daniel Van de Wiele stopped the contest roughly a minute later, giving Klitschko the TKO victory and successful title defense.

Afterwards, Klitschko praised his opponent and expressed some frustration at his inability to earn a more emphatic stoppage earlier in the contest:

"I knew that he was a world-class boxer. I said before that the fight would not be easy. "I was a little hectic. I wanted to end the fight earlier but I didn't get to hit him enough."

Gomez, meanwhile, seemed pleased that he’d lasted so long against such a formidable foe but indicated that in the end Klitschko’s size and strength proved to be overwhelming:

"I thought I gave Vitali a very hard fight but I realized it wasn't enough. He was so tall and so heavy."

Klitschko’s next move is up in the air at the moment.  He’d like to fight WBA champion Nikolai Valuev, but the Russian giant’s handlers have been less than anxious to pit their man against the other title claimants.  Furthermore, the WBC has been trying to force Klitschko to make another mandatory title defense Oleg Maskaev.  Klitschko has appealed this to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland which has yet to render a judgment in the matter.