Klitschko shuts out Ibragimov
 By Benny Henderson Jr (Feb 24, 2008) Doghouse Boxing
Last night from the famed Madison Square Garden, televised live on HBO, the fight fans witnessed a meaningful yet uneventful heavyweight title unification bout between the IBF/IBO and now newly crowned WBO heavyweight titleholder Wladimir Klitschko, 50-3 (44), as he handed down a one-sided loss to Russian Sultan Ibragimov, 22-1-1 (17), moving closer to heavyweight domination.
The much bigger and seemingly stronger Klitschko ruled the night with a simple jab, walking down Ibragimov
and controlling the action – or lack of it – as he calmly and calculatedly out pointing Ibragimov.
Although overpowered by Klitschko, Ibragimov did showcase some sporadic aggression throwing out a looping left hand that caught leather and air for the most part.
In the ninth round Klitschko could have been credited with a knockdown when the Ukrainian landed a solid one and double two combination that had Ibragimov squatting on the ropes, but referee Wayne Kelly opted to let the action go.
Although pitching a shutout, Klitschko’s famed trainer Emanuel Steward was calling for Wladimir to knock out Sultan in the final few rounds, but to the dismay of the fight fans, it did not happen.
Klitschko easily established domination over Ibragimov winning the bout
unanimously by scores of 119-110, 118-110 and 117-111. The victory not only earned Klitschko the WBO strap to add to his IBF/IBO collection of belts, but garnered his fiftieth win in his eleven year career.
In the main support bout of the evening ‘Irish’ John Duddy, 24-0 (17), struggled to a ten round win over game Canadian Walid Smichet, 17-4-3 (13). Despite his substantial height and reach disadvantages Smichet seemingly couldn’t miss Duddy in the openeing rounds, landing heavy shots with both the left and right hands and opening up a nasty cut over Duddy’s left eye. By the fifth round Duddy began to turn the tide, but the bull-like Smichet stayed on his his chest for the duration of the fight. At the conclusion of the contest one scorecard read 95-95 even, while the other two were agreed at 98-92 for Duddy. Despite winning the fight, the possibility of a match-up with reigning middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik now seems like a remote possibility for Duddy.
Middleweight ‘Mean’ Joe Greene, 18-0 (12), started fast against veteran Francisco Mora, 52-13 (35), dropping him twice in the second and a further two times in the fourth, but had to work hard for a tenth round stoppage after Mora refused to continue after an accidental clash of heads. Southwpaw Greene showed flashes of brilliance throughout the fight, but struggled to put away the game Argentinean.
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