Klitschko TKO
June 21, 2009
The bout was fought in front of a record crowd of 61,000 fans at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
The 33-year-old Klitschko held onto his IBF, IBO and WBO crowns when the referee stopped the fight with Chagaev bleeding from a large cut above his left eye.
Klitschko relied on his powerful left-right combinations to send Chagaev to the mat in the second round. The challenger did manage to break inside Klitschko's defenses for a blow that raised a pronounced bruise under Klitschko's right eye, but found no real answer to the Ukrainian's superior height, reach and punching power.
At 6'5", or 1.99 meters, Klitschko towered over his opponent, who was 14 centimeters (5.6 inches) shorter, and used that advantage to keep Chagaev at bay.
Unable to get close to the champion, Chagaev, who had a 25-0-1 record going into the fight, took a series of punishing jabs that wore down his defenses. Klitschko repeatedly forced Chagaev into the ropes, landing dozens of punches, which finally led to a profusely bleeding cut over the challenger's eye.
Referee Eddie Cotton inspected the wound after the ninth round and decided to stop the fight in favor of the Ukrainian, whose impressive performance takes his record to 53-3-0.
Klitschko, whose brother Vitaly holds the WBC crown, was initially slated to fight David Haye before the Briton pulled out due to an injury earlier this month.
gb/AP/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Nick Amies