Klitschko Stops Thompson in 11

Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko retained his IBF and WBO titles with an eleventh round KO of Tony "The Tiger" Thompson in Hamburg, Germany. Thompson was competitive for the first six rounds and was somewhat effective with his shots to the body of Klitschko. Both men were cut over the right eye in round two and Klitschko's left eye began to swell a few rounds later. That's about as exciting as it got though as, from the seventh round on, Thompson appeared to go into survival mode and fought more like a sparring partner than a fighter trying to win the heavyweight title. Klitschko could have coasted to an easy points victory but, to his credit, came out in the eleventh round looking for a knock out. He got it with a devastating short right that dropped Thompson onto the canvas. The challenger gamely struggled to his feet at the count of ten but referee Joe Cortez waved an end to the fight at 1:38 of the eleventh.

Klitschko's next fight will likely be a mandatory defense against 2004 Olympic gold medalist Alexander Povetkin some time later this year.