Klitschko-Ibragimov Weigh-In: Wladimir 238, Sultan 219

International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (49-3, 44 KOs) equaled the lowest weight of his career when he weighed in at 238 lbs at today’s weigh-in at New York’s Madison Square Garden for his unification bout with WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov (22-0-1, 17 KOs. In Wladimir’s last bout, against Lamon Brewster in July 2007, he came in at 243. That’s been Klitschko’s average weight for the past seven years. For his part, Ibragimov weighed in at 219 lbs which is about average for him.

It seems that Klitschko is coming in lighter hoping that weighing less will help him with both speed, maneuverability and with his stamina. In the past, he’s had problems fading late in his fights giving opponents such as Ross Puritty and Lamon Brewster the chance to stop him when he ran out of gas. Klitschko appears to not want to be taking any chance against Ibragimov, who is fast and excellent at fighting strong up until the final bell. In particular, Ibragimov has shown to do well against taller fighters, beating Lance Whitaker and fighting to a draw with Ray Austin.