Vladimir Klitschko v Lamon Brewster Fight Stats
Wladimir Klitschko avenged the most painful loss of his career with a technical knockout of Lamon Brewster in their IBF heavyweight title fight in Cologne. Brewster did not return for the seventh round after Klitschko dominated the first half of the fight courtesy of a strong left jab which he followed up with strong rights to the head.It was not immediately clear why Brewster did not continue even though had had taken a lot of punishment in the first six rounds.
Brewster had stopped Klitschko in the fifth round of their meeting back in April 2004 but he could not make any impact at all on Saturday night.
Klitschko dominated the highly-anticipated rematch from the first bell onwards, working cleverly behind his strong left jab.
After a stormy opening, he soon took control of the centre of the ring, keeping Brewster at bay with his left and also firing in strong right hands.
The challenger barely connected himself but constantly found himself on the receiving end, with Klitschko's jab landing almost at will. Brewster started to tire after the second round when Klitschko pelted him with a few nice one-two combinations.
The pattern remained the same in the following as Klitschko marched forward, while Brewster was busy avoiding further punishment.
Just when Brewster appeared to have landed a punch early in the fifth, Klitschko replied with another good one-two combination to the head which saw the 18,000 fans in the Koelnarena erupt.
After Brewster missed with a left hook early in the sixth, Klitschko fired in yet another strong left-right combination that saw Brewster going backwards.
However, he kept his composure and survived - only for his coach Buddy McGirt to decide he had taken enough punishment.
He would not let Brewster return for the seventh round, which caused ferocious boos from the angry crowd.
Klitschko improves to 49-3 with 43 KOs as he handed Brewster the fourth loss of his career (33-4, 29 KOs).
It was a spectacular display of power and a sharp contrast to his TKO loss back in April 2004. Klitschko, whose left hand was heavily bandaged at the post-fight press conference, was happy to put the most painful loss of his career behind him.
"Brewster was a tough opponent but there was no way I could lose," he said.
"He did not challenge me at all. I saw all of his punches coming.
"I had waited for this fight so long. The loss (in 2004) really hurt. I was at the very bottom of my career but I came back.
"I want to thank everyone, especially my coach Emanuel Steward, for supporting me during this difficult time."
Brewster would not argue with McGirt's decision to stop the fight. "The better man won," he admitted. "Wladimir beat me fair and square. I did my best but he was on his game.
"My coach said you are taking too many shots and he wanted to keep me from further trouble."
Boxing Tags: Klitschko, Lamon Brewster, Lamon Brewster Photos, Wladimir Klitschko Fight Record, Wladimir Klitschko Knockouts, Wladimir Klitschko Photos, Wladimir Klitschko Profile
