By John F. McKenna (McJack): IBF/WBA/IBO/WBO and Ring Magazine heavyweight champion Wladimir “Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko (58-3, 51 KO’s) scored an impressive 6th round TKO over American challenger Tony “The Tiger” Thompson (36-3, 24 KO’s) Saturday night in Bern, Switzerland.

It was the second time that Thompson was stopped by Klitschko. In their first encounter four years ago Wladimir scored an 11th round KO over Thompson. Tony blamed that loss on a torn meniscus injury to his knee, which prevented him from properly preparing for the fight. Prior to this fight Klitschko asked Thompson if he was injury free and in proper condition for the rematch. Thompson replied in the affirmative. Klitschko had grown weary of what he believed were excuses coming out of the Thompson camp after “The Tiger” was KO’d in the first fight.

Klitschko has taken a considerable amount of criticism over the caliber of his last two opponents. In March he scored an easy KO win over Jean-Marc Mormeck (36-5, 22 KO’s), but the fact is a number of top tier opponents did not step up when given the opportunity to fight “Dr. Steelhammer” last fall. After Mormeck, Klitschko was mandated by the IBF to fight Thompson. Thompson had won five fights in a row by the KO route since losing to Klitschko in July 2008 earning him another title shot.

It was obvious from the start that Wladimir had advanced as a fighter from where he was in 2008, while Thompson at 40 had not. Klitscko showed his clear advantage in strength as he was able to manhandle Thompson to some extent. The first round was a feeling out round, but in the 2nd round Wladimir was able to land a couple of his explosive right hands.

The 3rd and 4th rounds saw Wladimir pick up the pace and land more of his right hand power shots, as well as a few left jabs. The 5th round was all Klitschko as he continued to get the range and fell into a tempo, culminating with a picture perfect right hand that felled Thompson.

Thompson was able to beat the count, but never fully recovered from the punch that dropped him and from then on it was just a question of time. The 6th round saw Klitschko continue to stalk his man. He finally landed a flurry of punches which ended the one sided contest.

Wladimir demonstrated once again that he stands head and shoulders above his competition. Thompson at 6’5” and 243 was one of the few opponents not at a size disadvantage to the 6’6”, 249 pound Klitschko. As usually happens after one of Klitschko’s dominating performances there are those who criticized him for being boring. To his staunch followers in Switzerland, German the Ukraine and Eastern Europe however Wladimir was anything but boring, scoring his 51st KO. Klitschko with 12 title defenses to his credit now stands among the elite heavyweight champions from the past. It is likely that “Dr. Steelhammer” will defend his title again before the end of 2012, possibly in the United States.