By Sammy Rozenberg

Two Europeans. Two champions. Only one walked away with two titles at New York's Madison Square Garden. Wladimir Klitschko (50-3, 44KOs), from Kiev, Ukraine, unified the IBF and WBO heavyweight titles by winning a twelve-round decision over Sultan Ibragimov (22-1-1, 17KOs) of Russia. The scores were 119-110, 117-111 and 118-110.

 

The fight was a virtual shutout, courtesy of Klitschko's left jab. Ibragimov, at 6'1, has trouble with taller fighters who fight tall, like Ray Austin, and it really showed in this fight. He was unable to get inside at all. Aside from a few bodyshots, Ibragimov couldn't land much of anything. The jab kept him at bay.

Klitschko dominated the first few rounds with the left jab. Ibragimov tried to counter with bodyshots, but continued to eat jabs along the way.  By the eight-round, Klitschko began to unload with the right hand behind the jab. Ibragimov began to get desperate in the final two-rounds. He threw wild punches that were way off the mark. After the bell rang to signal the end of the fight, the crowd showered the ring with boos of dissatisfaction. Klitschko won the fight ugly, but Ibragimov took few chances to change the momentum.

Klitschko has two mandatory challengers to contend with and it's going to be interesting to see which of the two he decides to fight first. Tony Thompson, one of the few American heavyweights at the top of the rankings, is the mandatory challenger by the WBO. He's been waiting for a shot at the title for quite some time. He's going to push for the fight. At age 36, he's not young, but he's considered a young 36 by most insiders. He's beaten Luan Krasniqi, Dominick Guinn and Timor Ibragimov.

Undefeated Alex Povetkin is the mandatory per the IBF, after winning their elimination tournament. Povetkin is only 15-0 with 11 knockouts, but he's already beaten Eddie Chambers, Chris Byrd, Larry Donald and  Friday Ahunanya. He was very hittable against Chambers. He needs to work on his defense before challenging Klitschko, but that's not likely to happen. Povetkin's promoters will move on this title shot. Because he's so popular in Germany, it makes financial sense to hold it there.

The man Klitschko should really fight in the near future is WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (24-0, 17KOs). Chagaev made a name for himself by winning the title from the seven-foot giant, Nikolai Valuev. He's also beaten John Ruiz, Vladimir Virchis, Matt Skelton and Michael Sprott.

Rumors have Chagaev in a possible defense against Luan Krasniqi. He was originally scheduled to unify with Ibragimov in 2007, but withdrew from the fight due to illness. He possesses a similar southpaw style to Ibragimov, except he knows how to get on the inside with a taller opponent and he's a much big puncher.

The WBC title is not within reach for a while. Champion Oleg Maskaev, who last fought in December 2006, returns from a long layoff to defend against his mandatory, Samuel Peter, on March 1. Peter is the favorite to win, but not by much after his disappointing performance in his last fight against Jameel McCline. The winner will have to make an immediate defense against the returning Vitali Klitschko. If Vitali is injured, and he's been injured numerous times over the last few years, Wladimir could step in.

On the undercard,

Middleweight "Irish" John Duddy (24-0, 17KOs) won an unpopular ten-round majority decision over hand-picked opponent Walid Smichet (17-4-3, 13KOs). The scores were 95-95, 98-92 and 98-92.

According to ringside observers, Duddy struggled, badly at times, and took punishment against an opponent he should have taken out before the decision. Duddy is in line for a title shot at WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (33-0, 29KOs) on June 7, also at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Pavlik is serious step up in class for Duddy, who was a huge underdog to begin with in the fight, and his recent performance with Smichet will make him an even bigger underdog. HBO is expected to televise the event. Because it falls on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade, Top Rank is expected to load the undercard with Puerto Rican fighters, such as Ivan Calderon and Juan Manuel Lopez.

Middleweight prospect Joe Greene (18-0, 14KOs) cotinued his march to a title shot after stopping veteran Francisco Mora (52-13, 35KOs) after ten-rounds. Greene had Mora hurt several times during the fight and dropped him four times before the veteran made a smart decision by not coming out for the eleventh-round. Mora fought most of his career in Argentina, but he did come to the states for a fight with Kassim Ouma in 2006, which he lost by KO.

Greene, ranked at number 7 by the WBA and number 12 by the WBO, is slowly climbing the ladder on route to title shot in the near future.

Undefeated cruiserweight Johnathon Banks (19-0, 14KOs) stopped Imamu Mayfield (25-9-2, 18KOs) in one round after decking him twice. Banks is regarded as one of the best cruiserweight prospects in the United States.

Unbeaten Peter Quillin (17-0, 14KOs), who fights a few pounds above the middleweight limit stopped Thomas Brown (11-5-1, 7 KOs) in two rounds after a hook to the body. Quillin needs step up because these second-tier opponents are no match for his skills.

Undercard results by Mark Vester