Klitschko-Mormeck, Afolabi-Brudov tonight in Dusseldorf

By Boxing News - 03/03/2012 - Comments

Image: Klitschko-Mormeck, Afolabi-Brudov tonight in DusseldorfBy Allan Fox: Tonight IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will be defending his titles against an aging smaller Jean Marc Mormeck at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany. A lot of the fans are ignoring the fight compared Wladimir’s other bouts and it’s kind of unusual to see people so turned off towards a Wladimir fight. Hopefully it’ll be an interesting bout. Ola Afolabi will b e facing Valery Brudov for the interim WBO cruiserweight title on the undercard in fight that promises to be a lot more competitive bout compared to the Klitschko vs. Mormeck bout.

Wladimir has sailed through 1o title defenses since beating International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Chris Byrd in April 2006. He won the WBO title with a win over WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov in February 2008, and then captured the WBA belt last July in beating champion David Haye. The only title not within Wladimir’s grasp is the WBC belt, which is held by his older brother Vitali Klitschko. That, too, will likely be snatched up by Wladimir as soon as Vitali retires from boxing in a year or two. There really isn’t anyone to stand in Wladimir’s way from grabbing, least of all someone like 39-year-old Mormeck.

Tonight’s fight between Wladimir and Mormeck is more like a stay busy fight for Wladimir, as Mormeck is someone that is struggling to beat lower level fighters since moving up to the heavyweight division in 2009. He really would be better off moving back down to cruiserweight where he would have a better chance of doing something but the money is obviously better for Mormeck at heavyweight because he’s getting his title shot and good payday fight tonight against Wladimir. Mormeck is lucky that Wladimir is the champion because he might have been ignored by other heavyweight champions until it was far too late for him. At 39, Mormeck hasn’t got much more time before he won’t even be able to beat the 2nd tier heavyweights so he got the title fight with Wladimir just in time.

The winner of tonight’s Afolabi-Brudov fight could end up facing WBO champion Marco Huck within 120 days if Huck decides to keep his title and defend it. However, there’s also a possibility that the Afolabi vs. Brudov fight could be awarded the WBO title if Huck decides to vacate his belt and stay at heavyweight where the money is better.