KLITSCHKO GIVES $500,000 TO GLOBAL CHARITY THAT BENEFITS AT-RISK CHILDREN
Wladimir Klitschko unified all three boxing heavyweight
championship belts when he beat Sultan Ibragimov at Madison
Square Garden Saturday night. But thanks to a guaranteed
$500,000 donation by Klitschko to The Laureus Sport For Good
Foundation, he is also a winner in the eyes of the
thousands of at-risk children who participate in service
programs funded by Laureus.
KLITSCHKO vs IBRAGIMOV: THE
UNDERCARD...
by Ricky Ray Taylor
Round
9/Green batters Mora from corner to corner in the first
minute, Mora shows glimpses of someone who either wants to
win or someone who truly "wanted" to win at some point - and
maybe even did win some fights - but those days are long gone
from tonight. Green is looking sharp landing 3 and 4 punch
combinations at will GREEN
Round 10/Basically
more of the same this round until Mora sits on his stool and
refuses to answer the bell for the 11th. GREEN wins the
NABA middleweight title and the WBO/NABO middleweight title.
WLADIMIR DOMINATES IBRAGIMOV
WITH HIS JAB...
by Frank Gonzalez Jr.
Klitschko boxed like a chess player. He wasn’t looking for a
knockout as much as he was looking to hit, without being hit.
He did a great job of it. It wasn’t so pleasing to watch, but
it was one recipe for success. In the end, it was a lopsided
Points victory for Wladimir Klitschko. Credit Ibragimov for
being tough enough to go the distance over a guy who usually
wins by KO.
HBO’s coverage team of Jim Lampley and Lennox Lewis are both reasonable, sound
commentators, but Max Kellerman is annoyingly distracting to listen to. Early in
the seventh round, Kellerman questioned Harold Lederman’s score card for giving
Ibragimov rounds one and six at that point, by saying that it was a virtual
shutout in his mind, all the while complaining that Wladimir’s tactics weren’t
crowd pleasing. Klitschko easily lost the first round by just pawing at
Ibragimov’s jab, instead of throwing his own. Klitschko landed maybe two soft
punches to Ibragimov’s five.
KLITSCHKO UNIFIES IN A CLASSIC YAWN PROVOKER...
by George Elsasser
Only insomniacs watching at home via magic lantern may have
been rewarded with a long awaited good night sleep - this one was that bad -
insulting a better description.
Not a single round over twelve repetitive stanzas of tall-Wlad pawing with the
left hand and short-Sultan pretending to go on the offense - and where, pray
tell, good buddy Teddy Atlas, was the advantages in this one of the amateur
pedigree we hear all too often about?
KLITSCHKO, IBRAGIMOV TUESDAY WORKOUTS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
The public gets a chance to watch Wladimir
Klitschko (IBF) and Sultan Ibragimov (WBO) in their final preps for the
Heavyweight Unification Championship set for Madison Square Garden on Saturday,
when both fighters workout for the public and media on Tuesday afternoon,
(February 19), at the Hard Rock Cafe on Broadway and West 43rd Street in New
York City.
Klitschko is slated for a 2:00 PM drill, while the Ibragimov is on tap for 1:30 PM. Undefeated New York fighter Peter "Kid
Chocolate" Quillin begins the proceedings at 12:30 pm, while Ireland's popular
John Duddy steps into the ring at 1:00 PM.
KLITSCHKO-STEWARD, ET AL, PRESS CONFERENCE
QUOTES...
by Rizwaan Zahid
Wladimir Klitschko ~
I’m looking at it as a sporting event, and every fighter has
a different training method, and I do enjoy my training, developing a strategy,
and executing it in the fight. That’s my satisfaction, and I have to face
it it’s a unification fight. To me it’s not important right now, it’s important
to deliver a great performance. It is obviously important for boxing fans, and
I’m looking forward to it as a boxing fan as well. Heavyweight boxing needs
consistency, that’s what I’m looking to do.
KLITSCHKO - IBRAGIMOV: BEYOND THE KNOCKOUTS... by Ricky
Ray Taylor
Though it's true that the Heavyweight Championship (or any
Boxing championship for that matter!) has splintered into
numerous "titles" since 1984 & neither one of these
warriors can sing along with the Star Spangled Banner like
most of us can - the international expectancy of this bout
still resonates in the Boxing community. Perhaps the most
notable asterisk in this match up rests in the fact that
in only 8 of their 74 fights have the judges been asked
to declare a winner.
So, I took it upon myself to do a little homework and take a
look at the eight fights that went to the judges scorecards...
KLITSCHKO - IBRAGIMOV: GOING, GOING, ALMOST
GONE...
“Who said boxing was dead,” asked Leon Margules, Executive Director of
Seminole Warriors Boxing. “If you give fight fans a great
fight card headlined by a historic Champion vs Champion bout,
they will respond, and we’re ecstatic with ticket sales for
this show. Not only do we have Ibragimov and Klitschko
unifying the title in the main event, but John Duddy, Joe
Greene, Peter Quillin and Johnathan Banks will also be in
action on February 23rd. I can’t wait to hear the roar of the
packed house on fight night.”
KLITSCHKO vs IBRAGIMOV: A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION...
by Tom Dickey
Instead of fighting each other until a true heavyweight champ emerged, we had
guys like Ruiz fighting everyone who wasn't a real heavyweight, like Roy Jones
Jr. and James Toney. Vitali was fighting gems like Cory Sanders and Danny
Williams. Poor Chris Byrd couldn't even get a fight and when he did it was
usually after a long layoff or against the likes of Andrew Golota and/or
Fres Oquendo, fighters who had been or simply never were.
JEFF
MAYWEATHER UNPLUGGED...
An exclusive interview by Rizwaan Zahid
Riz:
In your training career, is this the biggest fight?
MAYWEATHER:
"I would have to say in the terms of the significance of the fight
and its meaning to the sport of boxing, yes, but for me personally it was winning the title because we defeated a fighter I had previously trained
named Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs, who obviously didn’t believe in me
enough to allow me to do my job as his trainer."
IBRAGIMOV
BEGINS TRAINING FOR THE BIGGEST FIGHT OF HIS LIFE
There will be no New Year’s Eve parties
for WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov. Instead, he
will be preparing for a bigger prize as he gets ready to drop
bombs on Wladimir Klitschko in their highly-anticipated
heavyweight title unification bout on February 23rd at Madison
Square Garden in New York City.
“Anything worth
having requires sacrifices,” said the unbeaten Ibragimov, who
has just opened up his training camp in Florida. “Ever since
I began fighting, I wanted to become a world champion, and I
achieved that goal in 2007. Now my goal is to become the
unified heavyweight champion and I will have my opportunity on
February 23rd. The work is hard, but I know the reward will
be worth it.
VLADIMIR KLITSCHKO TO SULTAN IBRAGIMOV: THIS FIGHT IS OFFICIALLY ON!
... by Ricky Ray Taylor
Two of the world's
most recognizable heavyweight champions squared off Tuesday
afternoon at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City. Though
their showdown won't be taking place until late February
(23rd), the press conference for "THE UNIFICATION" was ablaze
with anticipation. Evidently, this will be the first
unification match up between two heavyweights since Lennox
Lewis fought Evander Holyfield.
UNIFICATION! KLITSCHKO vs. IBRAGIMOV FEBRUARY 23 AT THE GARDEN
For several years, fight fans have longed for the
day when the heavyweight championship of the world would be unified and one man
would reign atop the sport’s glamour division. On Saturday, February 23rd,
at ‘The Mecca of Boxing,’ New York City’s Madison Square Garden, that day will
be one step closer when IBF & IBO Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko and
WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov meet to unify their titles in a bout
destined to bring clarity to the heavyweights once again.
1-4-2008 |
