2004-12-11
Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV, USA
WBC Heavyweight Title
Vitali Klitschko TKO 8 Danny Williams
Already as the fight began it was clear that Danny Williams was really prepared to face Vitali, who had fought 34 professional fights before facing the Brit. Of course Williams' team had closely examined each of Vitali's fights.
Yet Williams missed the fact that you must think with your head and not
with your chin.
Vitali carried out most of his preparations with his first trainer -
Wladimir Zolotaryov,
who also coached him in the amateurs. They not only worked on Vitali's power
but also on technique of attack and defense.
How to move your body, confusing your opponent and using ropes were also
high on agenda.
Plus, Vitali trained on his uppercut, which can become a deadly
weapon. M
Williams was ready that Vitali, like before, would stand upright,
throwing punches from far distance and under pressure would back away in a
straight line.
Therefore Williams started with an attack trying to hit Vitali's chin and
then as Vitali moves back,
finish with a knockdown. MVitali was ready for such action.
He quickly responded and knockdown Williams forty seconds before round one
ended with right straight,
followed by two left hooks. This was the beginning of the end to the
Brit.
Later it became obvious that Williams has a problem with simultaneous
coordination using both hands and feet.
As much as he tried, he could not land any punches while moving.
For him to be able to launch a powerful punch he had to stop.
And as he did that, he became an easy target for Vitali's distant punches.
Few seconds prior to the end of third round Williams was down for the second
time.
Williams, trying to move forward was caught by Vitali's left punch.
After that, as Williams' face looked beat down, he quickly rushed towards
Vitali hoping for one lucky punch.
While Danny was looking for that one punch, Vitali skillfully continued to
beat down his opponent
causing more bruises and pain. At the start of the last minute in round
seven, Williams already fell from a simple push.
The only thing that remained strong in him - was his chin, which could not
think, thus he couldn't change his game plan,
only being able to continue. Continue withstanding all that Vitali launched
at him.
Fight ended in round eight with one minute and fifty seconds passed.
As Danny was completely clueless where Vitali was, he gets hit with two
uppercuts.
Standing there with his head raised high and his hands down,
Williams becomes a perfect target for Vitali.Vitali continues with a
powerful jab and then straight right.
Three seconds after Vitali started his attack, Williams ends up on the floor
under ropes.
Referee Jay Nady starts counting, as Danny after second try gets up on his
feet at the count of nine.
He signals that he can continue but Jay Nady decides otherwise, which
probably was a wise decision.
The fight is stopped. Williams goes to his corner barely able to keep his
balance.
2004-04-24
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Vacant WBC Heavyweight Title
Vitali Klitschko TKO 8 Corrie Sanders
The fight started with both boxers feeling each other out. Vitali and Sanders
kept their distance, only occasionally trading punches. Sanders kept trying to
lure Vitali to open up, but Vitali instead set the pace for the fight until his
38-year-old challenger surprised him with some fast counters, and then a big
left hand. That certainly gave the South African the first round on points
though Vitali had dodged and deflected most of his punches. Vitali then started
to figure Sanders out more in the second round and was successfully landing
most of his punches. Vitali was sticking to his game plan and wasn't opening up
too much against Sanders.
In the third round Vitali and Sanders then suddenly slugged it out with Vitali
landing a quick right-left combination. Still, Vitali had to be on his toes
because of Sanders fast counter-punching. The crowd certainly loved what they
were seeing. But by the end of the third round you could also tell that there
was some wear-and-tear, especially for the South African. And in the fourth
round the former policeman from Pretoria still kept trying to get Vitali to
open up so that he could nail him with counters, but the Ukrainian wasn't
falling for it. Instead, he kept pacing himself.
In the fifth round Vitali started going more on the offensive as he noticed his
opponent was getting more and more tired. But then suddenly the South African
exploded and went after Vitali who then landed some good counterpunches
himself. Towards the end of the round Vitali landed a flurry of punches that
signaled that he had the upper hand in the fight. And the earlier attack by
Sanders seemed to take the wind out of him, too, as he ended the round by
simply covering up against Vitali. Sanders was starting to unravel, yet didn't
go down.
When referee Jon Schorle brought the fighters out for round six Sanders tried
to settle the fight once and for all. He first stuck to his initial plan of
trying to sucker Vitali to come for him, and then he went on the offensive,
trying to put Vitali away. The 38-year-old landed a few good punches, but most
of them missed their mark. And then both fighters started slugging it out with
Vitali scoring big. The seventh round started similarly with Sanders coming at
Vitali, but the older of the Klitschko brothers knew how to defend against that
and successfully countered. Then Vitali started going on the offensive, landing
a series of punches that left Sanders no other option than to cover up.
In the eighth round the one-time WBO World Champion looked exhausted. Still, he
tried one more time to go on the offensive and turn things around, perhaps
winning it with that one decisive knockout punch. But his attempts looked weak,
and after he spent his remaining energy, Vitali took the initiative and totally
overwhelmed his opponent with relentless attacks. The most that South African
could do was to try to escape though it looked as if he could hardly even stand
on his feet, once almost being knocked out of the ring. Most of the crowd at
Staples Center seemed to think the fight was pretty well decided then and
there. And then 16 seconds before the end of round eight the referee Jon
Schorle ended the fight with Vitali Klitschko beating Corrie Sanders on a
technical K.O. and becoming the new WBC heavyweight champion.
