Inside Fights presented live round-by-round coverage of the heavyweight bout between Wladimir Klitschko and Ruslan Chagaev earlier today. Check inside for the full coverage of the heavyweight title fight.
Live from Germany. Michael Buffer has introduced the fighters and the national anthems have been played. The heavyweight championship contest is underway…
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Ruslan Chagaev
Referee: Eddie Cotton
All of Wladimir’s heavyweight titles are on the line. Chagaev’s WBA title is not. This fight is also for the Ring Magazine Heavyweight title.
Round 1
Klitschko paws with the jab to start. Showing off his extreme length advantage. Chagaev tries to cover up and get inside but that leads to a clinch on the ropes. More stiff jabs from Wladimir lead to a strong right straight that smacks Chagaev’s head back. This has been a slow round as both men are feeling each other out. Klitschko landed the bigger punches so the round goes to him.
10-9 Klitschko
Round 2
Chagaev is eating jabs as he comes inside. He’s paying the price for coming inside. To make things worse, Chagaev is missing on wild hooks when he gets inside. Wladimir with more punishment and Chagaev goes down! It’s a flash knockdown as Chagaev gets right back up. It was a one-two from Wladimir with a straight right to the chin sending Chagaev to his seat.
10-8 Klitschko
Round 3
Wladimir looks to be in phenomenal shape. He’s putting his punches together beautifully and Chagaev’s face is already red whereas Klitschko looks like he hasn’t been hit yet. Chagaev is having problems getting inside and Klitschko’s jab is penetrating right through Chagaev’s guard. Another easy round for Klitschko. Chagaev needs to change his strategy because he’s doing nothing beneficial right now.
10-9 Klitschko
Round 4
I feel like I can copy and paste the writeups for each round at this point. It’s all the same. Klitschko’s jab is stronger than Chagaev’s guard and it’s getting through every time. Chagaev has swelling above his eyes. He looks dejected as he walks back to his corner.
10-9 Klitschko
Round 5
Wladimir is stalking Chagaev now. A huge 1-2 rocks Chagaev back against the ropes. Wladimir is the aggressor now. In the previous rounds he was content to let Chagaev come to him. Perhaps Wladimir has somewhere to be tonight. Chagaev just simply can’t get inside on Wladimir. He’s eating jabs and I don’t think Chagaev is finding them very tasty. 60,000 people are witnessing a one-sided performance from Wladimir Klitschko.
10-9 Klitschko
Round 6
Klitschko is a technician. On the off chance that Chagaev does get inside, he doesn’t get off more than one punch to the body as Wladimir grabs him in a clinch and gets his distance back. Not anything in the way of credible offense is coming from Chagaev tonight. Jabs win another round for Wladimir. Boris Becker is in attendance. Yep. That’s the most exciting thing to report from round 6.
10-9 Klitschko
Round 7
With the fight airing on ESPN Classic, we get the announce team of Robert Flores and BJ Flores. BJ Flores is doing a great job. He seems very natural on the microphone. Maybe not as natural as Wladimir Klitschko is in the ring. Chagaev is like a punching back with legs in there. Wladimir has let off the gas in this round, as compared to the last two rounds. Chagaev lands his best punch of the round after the bell to end round 7. He apologizes for the shot and doesn’t get any credit on the scorecards for the punch.
10-9 Klitschko
Round 8
Chagaev’s face looks terrible. In addition to the swelling, Chagaev now has a cut over his left eye. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like anything that will stop the fight. Klitshcko keeps landing jabs and straights. The cut is on the eyelid just below his eyebrow. It’s a long cut but it wasn’t producing a lot of blood during the round.
10-9 Klitschko
Round 9
Wladimr Klitschko absolutely tees off on Chagaev. Chagaev found his back against the ropes and almost found his back on the canvas. Klitschko set him up with jabs and nails him with straight rights for the final minute of the round. Chagaev was rocked a few times but to his credit never went down. Still, he’s doing nothing to win this fight.
10-9 Klitschko
Chagaev’s corner stops the fight. Great call on their behalf. Chagaev was done and Klitschko was going to put him away as soon as he wanted to.
Winner: Wladimir Klitschko by TKO in the 9th round
Another dominating performance from Wladimir Klitschko. This proves very little for Wladimir Klitschko. We already knew he had a strong jab and that Chagaev had little chance of getting through a motivated Klitschko. This does, however, prove that Wladimir Klitschko and the heavyweight division, need David Haye. He’s got the charisma to be a perfect villian for Wladimir and the perfect style to make for an exciting fight against Wladimir.
