Klitschko vs. Mormeck: Does 39-year-old Jean Marc have a chance?

By Boxing News - 09/19/2011 - Comments

By Allen Fox: It looks like IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (56-3, 49 KO’s) is really scraping the bottom or the barrel with his selection of the 39-year-old former cruiserweight champion Jean Marc Mormeck (36-4, 22 KO’s) to fight on December 10th at the ESPRIT arena, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Although Mormeck is ranked near the bottom in the heavyweight division at #9 WBA, #12 IBF, and #13 WBO, it’s hard to make a case that Mormeck even deserves that lowly ranking given how poorly he’s fought in this weight class in his three fights since moving up from the cruiserweight division in 2010.

Mormeck has beaten Vinny Maddalone, Fres Oquendo and Timur Ibragimmov in his home country of France. The problem is a lot of boxing fans, including this writer, had Mormeck losing to Oquendo and Ibragimov. Even against Maddalone, Mormeck went life and death with him. Mormeck looked nothing short of terrible in all three fights.

This really makes you wonder about Wladimir. He doesn’t need soft record-padding fights like this. There are plenty of worthy heavyweights out there that would seem to be a much better fight for Wladimir than picking a guy that is short and old. Mormeck is only 5’11”, and will be giving way over six inches in height and another seven inches in reach. This is essentially means that Wladimir can stand on the outside and jab Mormeck at will if he wants to and Mormeck will never be able to lay a glove on Wladimir.

Mormeck does have respectable power if he you stand in front of him with your guard down. I’m quite sure he could knock Wladimir out if he bent forward low enough for Mormeck to land his shots without having to jump up in the air or stand on his tippy toes to reach Wladimir’s chin. But short of a lucky home run punch, Mormeck is going to take a beating and get knocked out. The only way this doesn’t get stopped is if Wladimir fights another safty-first fight like he did against former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye in last fight in July.



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