(Photo credit: K-MG) By Allan Fox: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) will have a 9-pound advantage tomorrow night in his fight against #7 WBO, #12 WBA, Francesco Pianeta (28-0-1, 15 KO’s) at the SAP Arena, in Mannheim, Germany.
The 6’6” Wladimir weighed in at 249 pounds at today’s weigh-in. The 6’5” Pianeta came in at 240 lbs. There’s not much difference in height and weight that separates the two fighters. What does differentiate the two is the super power, speed, experience and boxing skills that the Ukrainian Wladimir has going for him.
Wladimir is simply on another level compared to Pianeta and there’s no mistaking that. He’s a lot better, and this fight is like matching a near novice against a champion. Pianeta technically isn’t a beginner because he has 29 fights under his belt, but in terms of facing quality opposition, this is really Pianeta’s first fight of his career in that category.
Thanks to his German handlers, Pianeta will be cutting his teeth for the first time against a quality fighter, and that’s not a good thing. They did Pianeta no favors by keeping him matched against weak opposition. They may have gotten him a title shot, but he stands no chance of winning the fight and will just be another fodder opponent for Wladimir to destroy.
In looking at how tough a time Pianeta had recently in beating 39-year-old Zach Page, 48-year-old Oliver McCall and 44-year-old Frans Botha in 2012, I can’t see Pianeta lasting beyond the 6th round against Wladimir. Pianeta really struggled against Botha, McCall and Page.
I had Pianeta losing to Page by an 8 round decision, but he was given the decision in a fight that took place in Germany.
Wladimir can do pretty much anything he wants to against the southpaw Pianeta. If he wants stay out on the outside and jab him all night, then that’s something he’ll be able to without any problems.
If Wladimir decides he doesn’t want to carry Pianeta then he can take him out with one strong surge of power shots. Pianeta is so slow and so easy to hit, and he doesn’t have the power to worry Wladimir. This is going to be target practice for the big Ukrainian fighter.
This is Wladimir’s last easy fight before he faces WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin. That could be a tough fight for Wladimir because he hasn’t faced a quality opponent since his fight with David Haye in 2011, and it might be tough on him to suddenly be facing a good fighter. Since his way over Haye, Wladimir has beaten Jean-Marc Mormeck, Tony Thompson and Mariusz Wach.
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