Klitschko KOs Thompson in sixth
Wladimir Klitschko knocked out Tony Thompson in the sixth round in Bern, Switzerland, on Saturday night.
The Ukrainian retained his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles in what was not far from another farcical fight.
The spectators saw three rounds of non-action, one round of little action and knockdowns in the fifth and sixth rounds as Thompson failed to put up any challenge and Klitschko put on an exhibition of prodding, pawing and plodding.
The champion did connect with a clean right to the face of the American in the fifth. Thompson collapsed and stayed down for a count of eight. He would have done well to stay down for another two seconds.
When the sixth round began, Thompson immediately went looking for a place to hide. He did not throw a single punch as he watched the champion from behind his gloves.
When Klitschko tossed another right – not nearly as solid as the one in the previous round – and a glancing left, Thompson sought refuge on the canvas.
Referee Sam Williams counted while he waited for his fellow American to get up but Thompson showed no interest. Williams briefly continued, almost half-heartedly, counting before showing the fight was over, four seconds before the scheduled end of the round.
Klitschko’s record moved on to 58-3, including 51 knockouts. Thompson’s dropped to 36-3; 24 and heavyweight boxing’s image also took another dive.
Thompson had lost to Klitscko – by knockout in the eleventh round – in a challenge in 2008. This time he did a lot worse.
The 36-year-old Klitschko had knocked out France’s Jean Marc Mormeck in the fourth round in March and has now won each of his past 16 bouts.
Thompson, a 40-year-old southpaw, had won five fights inside the distance since his previous loss to Klitschko.
He even stopped Chaz Witherspoon in the ninth and Owen Beck in the fourth but brought none of that aggression to Bern.
UNDERCARD RESULTS
Cruiserweight: Nuri Seferi improved to 32-6; 19 when he beat Giulian Ilie (18-6-2; 5) by majority decision over eight rounds.
Junior middleweight: Tony Harrison (8-0; 8) knocked out out Flavio Turelli (10-6-2; 1) in the first round.
Middleweight: Istvan Szili (16-0; 6) beat Daniel Urbanski (21-10-3; 5) on points over eight rounds.
