By Nick Adams: Now that IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (50-3, 44 KOs) has taken the WBO title from Sultan Ibragimov after last Saturday’s unanimous decision victory, Klitschko is looking at the prospect of having to defend the WBO title, almost immediately, against the number #1 challenger Tony Thompson (31-1, 19 KOs). For his part, the 6’5″ Thompson has been waiting for some time at a title shot, previously counting on former champion Ibragimov giving him a shot. However, when Ibragimov chose instead to fight Klitschko, Thompson lost out on his title chance.
It would have been a very tough bout for Ibragimov to win, because he would have had a tough time matching up against the huge southpaw Thompson, who uses his height well to fight on the outside. Perhaps for the reason, Ibragimov opted to take on the tougher, and better paying bout against Klitschko. At least if Ibragimov is going to lose his title, he was smart to get the most money out of while he could. At this time, Klitschko has the option of defending the WBO title against # 1 mandatory Thompson, or taking on the number # 1 challenger Alexander Povetkin, who earned the right to fight Klitschko by defeating Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers in an IBF elimination tournament.
Wladimir finds himself stuck between a rock and hard place, no doubt, for neither Thompson or Povetkin are like the easy opponents that Klitschko has been fighting for the past three years. Thompson, 36, may in fact be the toughest of the heavyweights, in that he is awkward and hard to fight because of his extremely long arms, his busy style and his southpaw stance. Add to that his long jab, and it makes for someone that Wladimir may have a lot of problems with. This isn’t going to be the type of fighter that Klitschko has been accustomed to fighting, the usual short fighters, with short arms. He won’t be able to simply stand at a distance and beat Thompson with a jab alone, never bothering to get close enough to throw a right hand.
Indeed, Thompson’s jab may be even better than Klitschko’s, something that will hopefully break Wladimir out of his tendency to avoid throwing his right hand. Believe me, if Klitschko intends on beating a fighter as well-schooled as Thompson, that’s going to require that Wladimir let his hands go and start using his powerful right hand. Like in his battle against Ibragimov, Wladimir won’t need to worry about getting hit with any monstrous shots.
Thompson is more of fighter that beats his opponents into submission by landing an accumulation of blows rather than one big shot. However, that didn’t change the way that Wladimir fought against Ibragimov, as he treated him like a reincarnation of George Foreman, gingerly stepping around him to avoid getting hit with his soft shots. If he wants to get the win, Wladimir is going to have to unload with something real substantial against Thompson, because he’s going to get hit frequently, no matter how much Wladimir tries to retreat when being attacked. Thompson’s arms are incredibly long, and although he’s not quite as tall as the 6’6″ Klitschko, his arms are longer, which will enable Thompson’s jab to land at a distance.
If I were to choose who Wladimir should fight next, Povetkin or Thompson, I’d pick Thompson. I see him as the type of fighter that Klitschko needs right now to undo the damage of his recent poor showing against Ibragimov last Saturday. Thompson will force Wladimir to fight for his life, and if he plays the same timid game as he did against Ibragimov, Thompson will beat him by a decision. I can’t see him stopping Wladimir, because his power isn’t that good, but I can definitely can see him giving Wladimir a boxing lesson and beating him.
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