Wladimir Klitschko vs Tony Thompson

Wladimir Klitschko retained the IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight championships by knocking out Tony Thompson in the eleventh round at the Colour Line Arena in Hamburg on July 12, 2008. The end came after 1 minute 38 seconds, when a straight right hand sent the American challenger heavily to the floor. Thompson regained his feet before referee Joe Cortez completed the count, but he was unsteady and in no condition to continue. Klitschko weighed 241 pounds, and Thompson 248, and the official scorecards after ten rounds had the champion leading by margins of 99–91, 98–92 and 98–92. The victory improved Klitschko’s record to 51 wins against three defeats and brought Thompson’s unbeaten run of 27 contests to an end.

The contest was Klitschko’s first defence of the WBO championship he had taken from Sultan Ibragimov in their unification match at Madison Square Garden five months earlier, as well as the fifth defence of his IBF title. Thompson was the WBO’s mandatory challenger and had earned his position by stopping Germany’s Luan Krasniqi in the fifth round at the same Hamburg arena the previous year. The 36-year-old American was a former sparring partner of Klitschko, stood 6 feet 5 inches tall, and possessed a reach comparable to the champion's. Those dimensions removed some of the physical advantages Klitschko commonly enjoyed and, combined with Thompson’s southpaw stance and cautious defence, made him an awkward assignment. Klitschko’s trainer, Emanuel Steward, had warned beforehand that Thompson would be difficult to hit cleanly.

A sold-out crowd of about 14,000 filled the Colour Line Arena, where Klitschko had begun his professional career nearly 12 years earlier. The reception was warm, but the atmosphere became subdued as the fight developed into a measured contest rather than an immediate display of the champion’s power. Klitschko had been criticised for the restraint of his points victory over Ibragimov, and here again he showed little inclination to take unnecessary risks. Thompson, however, was not merely attempting to survive. From the opening bell, he stood sufficiently close to make the champion work, moved his head away from the jab and tried to counter from the southpaw position.

The first round was cautious but belonged to Thompson on all three official cards. The challenger’s awkward angle prevented Klitschko from establishing his usual rhythm, and he scored with compact punches while the champion studied him from behind a guarded left hand. Thompson did not retreat in straight lines and was willing to remain in front of Klitschko long enough to deliver a counter before moving away. Klitschko advanced without haste, attempting to measure the distance with the jab, but his right hand was largely withheld, and the American completed the round with the cleaner work.

Klitschko increased the use of his jab in the second, but the round was interrupted by an accidental collision of heads, which opened cuts near the right eyes of both men. Blood ran from Klitschko’s wound, though Steward and cut man Jacob Duran were able to control it between rounds. Thompson was also marked but appeared less troubled by his injury. The incident did not alter the manner of the fight. Klitschko continued to advance carefully, using his left hand to control Thompson’s movement, while the challenger attempted to slip outside the jab and reply with his right hook or straight left. Neither man was prepared to exchange recklessly at close range.

Through the third and fourth rounds, Klitschko gradually imposed greater order upon the contest. His jab began to reach Thompson more regularly, and when the challenger paused after punching, the champion drove the right hand down the centre. Thompson remained competitive because he could reach Klitschko without first crossing the large gap which had defeated many of the champion’s previous opponents. He worked at the body when the opportunity arose and used his southpaw jab to disturb Klitschko’s balance. His punches lacked the weight to discourage the champion, but they were accurate enough to prevent Klitschko from becoming careless.

Thompson had one of his better periods in the fifth. He caught Klitschko with several punches, including a right hook, which contributed to swelling around the champion’s left eye. Klitschko’s face was showing the marks of the contest, an unusual sight during this stage of his championship reign, but he remained composed. He did not answer Thompson’s success by rushing forward. Instead, he tightened his guard, returned to the jab and waited for the challenger to finish punching before delivering his own right hand. Thompson’s willingness to remain within range was giving him opportunities, but it also meant that he was repeatedly required to absorb the champion’s heavier blows.

Klitschko took firmer control in the sixth. Two straight right hands landed heavily and caused Thompson to give ground. The champion’s timing had improved, and he was now finding the target whenever the American straightened after slipping the jab. Thompson continued to punch back and remained difficult to strike with combinations, but the difference in power had become apparent. Klitschko’s individual blows disturbed Thompson’s stance, whereas the challenger’s punches, though frequent and often correctly placed, produced little visible effect upon the champion. The sixth was the stage at which the balance of the contest moved decisively in Klitschko’s favour.

Fatigue began to affect both men after the seventh round. Klitschko’s work rate fell, and there were periods when he followed Thompson without throwing punches, content to score with the jab and prevent the challenger from mounting a sustained attack. Thompson, who had never previously travelled beyond ten rounds, was breathing heavily, and his foot movement was becoming slower. He continued to offer resistance and occasionally reached Klitschko with the left hand, but his punches no longer carried the speed of the earlier rounds. The champion appeared tired himself, though his greater experience over the championship distance allowed him to maintain control without increasing the pace.

The eighth and ninth followed the same pattern. Klitschko kept Thompson at the end of the jab, stepped back from the challenger’s slower advances and drove the right hand whenever Thompson remained square in front of him. There was no knockdown, and Klitschko did not launch the prolonged attack which the crowd expected, but the challenger was being steadily weakened. Thompson’s defensive movement had become laboured, and he was increasingly dependent upon clinches after missing with his own punches. Klitschko’s caution preserved his advantage, although it also prolonged a contest in which the American was plainly tiring.

In the tenth, Thompson went to the canvas during a clinch. Cortez correctly ruled that no knockdown had occurred, but the fall demonstrated the challenger’s condition. Thompson appeared to collapse through exhaustion rather than from the force of a punch, and he rose slowly before continuing. Klitschko still made no reckless attempt to finish him. He remained behind the jab, delivered the occasional right hand and allowed the challenger to reach the bell. By then, the contest had become one-sided on the official cards, with Thompson’s work in the opening round and his isolated successes thereafter insufficient to offset Klitschko’s steady command.

Klitschko came out with greater purpose for the eleventh. Thompson’s legs were heavy, and he was no longer moving his head consistently as the champion approached. Near the middle of the round, Klitschko stepped into range and delivered a straight right hand, which Thompson did not see in time to avoid. The punch landed flush, sending the challenger backwards and down heavily. Thompson struggled to rise and beat the count, but his legs failed to support him properly. Cortez examined him briefly and stopped the fight without allowing Klitschko to administer further punishment.

The knockout provided a decisive finish to a performance which had been effective rather than spectacular. Thompson landed more total punches according to the recorded figures, connecting with 150 of 408 attempts against Klitschko’s 121 of 411, but the champion’s blows carried the greater force and produced the only knockdown. Thompson also landed more jabs and power punches statistically, yet much of his work consisted of lighter counters, which did not disturb Klitschko’s control of the contest. The judges’ wide scores reflected the champion’s cleaner and more damaging punching rather than the simple number of blows landed.

Klitschko admitted afterwards that the fight had been more difficult than he expected and referred to the swelling and cuts which had left him looking more marked than usual. Thompson also acknowledged that fatigue had overtaken him and that the champion had recognised the opportunity to finish the contest. Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, working at ringside for American television, considered Thompson’s start credible but noted that the challenger lacked the power to put Klitschko in serious danger. The result confirmed Klitschko as the leading heavyweight of the period, although his careful manner again divided opinion. He had overcome an awkward, durable challenger, managed two cuts and completed the contest with a properly delivered right hand, but he had required nearly eleven rounds to remove an opponent who had appeared exhausted several rounds earlier.