Klitschko Massacres Rahman in 7 Rounds in Heavyweight Boxing

In the sport of boxing, the heavyweight weight class hasn't been as competitive over the past few years as it has been throughout the sports history. We no longer get the privilege to see great heavyweight fights like Holyfield vs. Bowe or Ali vs. Frasier. Some say that it is because of the lack of good fighters, but the truth is that the heavyweight weight class has one king who has been sitting on top of that weight class, and his name is Wladimir Klitschko. On Saturday December 13, 2008, Klitschko defended his IBF and WBO heavyweight titles against Hasim Rahman, and looked so good doing it, that it may as well have been a sparring session.

Rahman (45-7-2), who is shorter and older than Klitschko (52-3, 46 KO's) was totally out matched. As most fighters do before their fights, Rahman talked about how he would knock Klitschko out, but ended up being on the receiving end of a whole lot of punishment. Klitschko seemed to be able to land punches at will. At the beginning of the sixth round, he landed three consecutive left hooks which sent Rahman straight to the canvas. It is quite rare that fight fans get to see a fighter of Rahman's caliber get hit with the same punch three times in a row. At any rate, fight ended 44 seconds into the next round, with a Klitschko left-right combination, which caused the referee to step in and stop the fight.

After the fight, Klitschko commented on how much slower Rahman was, and how he thought Rahman's corner would step in to stop the fight earlier due to the amount of punishment he was taking. Many of us viewers were thinking the same exact thing. According to the final punch stats, Klitschko landed 48% of his punches, while Rahman only landed 14%. So for those who did not get to see the fight, the statistics should be able to paint a clear picture of just how the fight went down. 36 year old Rahman should really consider retirement after this performance.

Wladimir Klitschko needs some real competition for a change. As stated earlier this boxing match looked more like a sparring session. Klitschko did make references to other fighters, such as Nikolai Valuev and Alexander Povetkin (who he was originally supposed to face in this fight, but didn't due to an injury) as signs that the heavyweight weight class is beginning to have better competitors. Fighters like Klitschko who enjoy such a big height and reach advantage over their opponents usually have a harder time finding worthy competition.