Klitschko beats Chagaev in front of 61,000

By PATRICK McGROARTY, Associated Press Writer

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP)—Wladimir Klitschko again proved his dominance of the heavyweight division, stopping Ruslan Chagaev in a hastily put together title fight Saturday night before 61,000 fans at a German soccer stadium.

The IBF and WBO champion added the Ring Magazine belt to his haul, knocking Chagaev down in the second round and opening a cut over the Uzbekistan-born fighter’s left eye in the eighth.

Referee Eddie Cotton stopped the fight before the 10th round.

“You can’t underestimate Chagaev,” said Klitschko, who stands with his brother Vitali as clearly the best in the division. “He did everything today, but I was better.”

Chagaev, who is the WBA’s “champion in recess,” raised a deep bruise under Klitschko’s right eye, but was done in by the Ukrainian’s height advantage and superior power. With his strong left jab and hard straight rights, Klitschko (53-3, 47 KOs) bloodied Chagaev and never appeared in danger.

The sellout crowd was the biggest boxing audience in Germany since Max Schmeling knocked out Adolf Heuser in front of 70,000 people in Stuttgart in 1939.

“Throughout the fight, I searched for the keys to unlock a win, but I just couldn’t find them,” said Chagaev, whose win over Carl Davis Drummond in February was stopped by a similar cut above his left eye.

The matchup at the Schalke soccer club’s Veltins Arena was originally billed as a showdown between Klitschko and former cruiserweight champ David Haye, and the two had gone on a worldwide press tour in which the outspoken Haye flaunted T-shirts showing him standing in the ring with the decapitated heads of the Klitschko brothers.

But the British fighter, whose only victory since moving to heavyweight was a knockout of Monte Barrett in November, pulled out earlier this month citing a back injury. He asked to reschedule the fight for July, but Klitschko wanted to keep the date and sellout crowd.

He found a replacement in Chagaev (25-1-1), who was supposed to fight Nikolai Valuev for the WBA title last month in Helsinki. That bout was called off after the weigh-in when doctors found Hepatitis-B antigens in Chagaev’s blood.

Because the rules are different in Germany, Chagaev managed to pass a medical exam and was allowed to fight Klitschko, even though several organizations protested, including the American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians.

ANDRADE SPECTACULAR ONCE AGAIN

Boxing's hottest young star, 2007 amateur world champion, and 2008 U.S. Olympian Demetrius "Boo Boo" Andrade improved his record to a perfect 5-0, 4KO with an impressive four round decision win over Tony Hirsch (8-2-1, 4KO) on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights". It was Andrade's third showing on FNF this year, and just as in the previous two he looked spectacular.

DEMETRIUS ANDRADE

The 21-year-old Providence, RI native Andrade, who is co-promoted by Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing and Banner Promotions, used his speed and height advantage to out work and out box Hirsch.

Hirsch was game but was simply not on the same level of the highly touted Andrade.

Look for Andrade to be back in action very soon.


Photo by Star Boxing photographer Mart Rosengarten.

Pascal claims light heavyweight belt

MONTREAL (AP)—Jean Pascal won a unanimous decision over Adrian Diaconu on Friday night, claiming the WBC light heavyweight title before 13,659 fans at the Bell Centre who seemed split in their support of the two Montreal fighters.

Diaconu (26-1), who was knocked down in the fifth, lost in his first title defense, while Pascal won in his first fight since moving up to the light heavyweight.

Judge Maximo de Luca scored it 115-112, while John Keane had it 116-112 and Jack Woodburn had it 116-111.

Their contrasting styles were evident from the outset, as Diaconu came straight ahead looking for a brawl while the quicker, taller Pascal stayed on the outside.

The crowd roared during a thrilling fifth, when Pascal knocked Diaconu down with a left and, after he got up, tried to finish him with a flurry of blows. The Romanian-born Diaconu managed to withstand the attack and ended the round with a flurry of his own.

In the 11thk, Diaconu landed a right to the jaw and the two fighters went toe-to-toe while fans in the arena came to their feet. The 12th featured another long exchange, but the swollen and bloody Diaconu couldn’t put Pascal down.

Diaconu won the interim WBC title in April 2008, when he beat Chris Henry in Bucharest, and was given the full title when champion Chad Dawson gave it up in order to fight Antonio Tarver for the IBF belt.

Two scheduled defenses against Silvio Blanco of Italy were canceled, so Diaconu’s only bout in the past 14 months was an eight-round decision in a tune-up against David Whittom.

Pascal was in his second title fight in just over six months, having lost a bid for the WBC super-middleweight belt to Carl Froch on Dec. 6 in England.

It was the first time rival promoters InterBox, which handles Diaconu, and Groupe Yvon Michel, which has Pascal, had their fighters face each other in the ring.

Klitschko to fight at 60,000-seat sellout venue

By PATRICK McGROARTY, Associated Press Writer

BERLIN (AP)—When Wladimir Klitschko steps into the ring against Ruslan Chagaev, it will be in front of the largest boxing audience in Germany since Max Schmeling fought in the 1930s.

Action inside the ropes Saturday at Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, however, might not live up to the hype.

Klitschko, the IBF and WBO heavyweight champion, was supposed to be fighting David Haye to settle a running verbal feud. But Haye bowed out earlier this month, saying he had injured his back.

Haye asked to reschedule the fight in July, but Klitschko wanted to keep the date and the 60,000-seat sellout—the biggest boxing crowd in Germany since Schmeling fought Adolf Heuser in front of 70,000 people in Stuttgart on June 2, 1939.

“It’s a chance that’s coming around for the first time in my entire sporting career,” the 33-year-old Ukrainian said. “I’m incredibly excited about the 60,000 fans.”

Chagaev weighed in Friday at 225 pounds, and Klitschko weighed in at 240 pounds.

The 30-year-old Chagaev was named the WBA’s “champion in recess” in 2008 after withdrawing from two fights against Nikolai Valuev. After a third bout between the two scheduled for last month in Helsinki was canceled due to Hepatitis-B antigens being found in Chagaev’s blood, the WBA announced Valuev as the rightful champion and put Chagaev’s honorary title “under review.”

As of Friday, the WBA had not clarified whether Klitschko (52-3) will fight for a piece of that title on top of defending his belts.

Michael Ehnert, the medical doctor for Universum, which is promoting Saturday’s fight, said Chagaev is fit to fight in Germany.

“Since getting Hepatitis B many years ago, Ruslan is simply a carrier of Hepatitis-B antigens. This has not led to an infection,” Ehnert said.

Klitschko has said he has been immunized against Hepatitis B and is not worried about the fight.

In February, Chagaev (25-0 with one draw) won a technical decision over Carl Davis Drumond in Rostock, Germany. It was the Uzbekistan-born boxer’s first fight in more than a year.