By Allan Fox: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) has picked out an especially weak opponent in Francesco Pianeta (28-0-1, 15 KO’s) to fight on May 4th, and now Wladimir is already starting the hard work of trying to build the 28-year-old up so that boxing fans feel that this is a competitive fight. It’s not.
Pianeta is in the same class as Wladimir’s recent opponents Jean Marc Mormeck and Mariusz Wach, but not as good as Tony Thompson, who Wladimir beat by a 6th round knockout last July. Wladimir will be facing the 6’4” Pianeta at the SAP-Arena, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Pianeta is listed at 6’5”, but after seeing him and Wladimir standing face to face, it’s clear that Pianeta, #9 WBA, #12 WBA, is two inches shorter than the 6’6” Wladimir.
Wladimir said “He’s [Pianeta] powerful, young, and hungry, so I’m going to face a real great challenge. I’m going to my training camp in a couple of weeks, and I will do as usual my preparation, and will keep you updated how things are going.”
Wladimir is correct about the southpaw Pianeta being young and hungry, but the bit about this being a real challenge and him being powerful is clearly a bunch of baloney because Pianeta is way out of his class in this fight, and he has very little power to speak of.
Pianeta is just a slapper with power, without speed, and without the ability to move around the ring unless he’s shuffling. This is Wladimir building the guy up so that his German boxing fans will be eager to see the fight and won’t think Wladimir picked out an over-matched opponent, which is what he did.
Wladimir was supposed to be fighting WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin, but he asked the World Boxing Association for permission to slip in an optional title defense against Pianeta.
It’s hard to figure why there was a pressing need for Wladimir to face someone like Pianeta when the guy doesn’t have a fan base, and he’s not someone that the boxing world talks about when they’re mentioning the top heavyweights in the division. It just looks like Wladimir is cherry picking opponents to milk his title.
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