By Dan Ambrose: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (50-3, 44 Kos) is counting on the IBF giving him an exception so that he can bypass his IBF mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin, who recently defeated both Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers in the IBF’s elimination tournament to come out as Klitschko’s mandatory challenger. However, instead of giving Povetkin a shot at his title, Wladimir has recently decided upon defending his WBO title against the #1 challenger Tony Thompson (31-1, 19 Kos), a tall 6’5” heavyweight known mostly for being an awkward volume puncher with little power.
Apparently, Thompson had been waiting for an extended period of time, with little luck, for the previous WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov to give him a shot at the title. Ibragimov instead decided on taking on high profile bouts with Evander Holyfield and then a unification bout with Wladimir, a fight in which Ibragimov lost his WBO title.