By Jason Kim: IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (57-3, 50 KO’s) is believe it or not facing a decent opponent in 40-year-old Tony Thompson (36-2, 24 KO’s) on July 7th at the Stade de Suisse, in Berne, Switzerland.

Thompson actually isn’t a bad fighter when you compare him to the other opponents Wladimir has beaten in the last four years.

It doesn’t matter if Thompson is a good fighter, because he’s still going to lose this fight and lose it badly. Wladimir is much too quick and powerful for Thompson to have any chance at winning the fight. Thompson has a puncher’s chance at that’s about it.

The thing is Thompson isn’t a puncher, so he’s going to have to try and box his way to a decision. Can Thompson do that? I don’t think Thompson has the skills to beat Wladimir in a strategic boxing style of fighting. That will only prolong Thompson’s suffering rather than getting it over all at one and going all out.

Four years ago, Thompson gave Wladimir a lot of problems in losing by a 11th round TKO defeat. Thompson, however, had a bad right knee, and Wladimir seemed to be well aware of this fact because he kept leaning on Thompson in the late rounds, making Thompson hold up Wladimir’s weight. Eventually, Thompson really hurt his knee and this no doubt led to Thompson getting stopped in the 11th. Thompson no longer has knee problems, so Wladimir is going to have to find another way of beating him this time instead of clinching him into submission.

Thompson won’t be able to avoid Wladimir’s constant clinching. When you fight Wladimir, it’s a given that he’s going to clinch you 8 to 12 times per round. However, Thompson can really help himself if he times Wladimir when he’s coming into clinch, because he’s very predictable with his grabbing. What Thompson needs to do is either hook Wladimir with right hands or nail him with straight lefts just as Wladimir is shooting forward with his arms outstretched for yet another clinch.