After handing David Haye a decisive loss in July, Wladimir Klitschko is moving on to meet Jean Marc Mormeck on Saturday, March 3rd, a rescheduled date from the original proposed time of mid-December. In many ways, the fight highlights the problems facing Dr. Steelhammer in the future, because while Mormeck is a good fighter, it is hard to describe him as a credible heavyweight contender.
Jean Marc Mormeck (36-4, 22 KOs)
5’11”, 74″ reach, 39 years old
Average weight as a heavyweight: 224 lbs
French
Two-time unified cruiserweight champion
Mormeck is a prime example of the boxing traditions of France. In crusierweight terms, he is a strong boxer-puncher with solid chin, good skills and ring smarts.
He won his first world title in 2002 in clash with an aged, but still capable Virgil Hill, forcing Hill to retire on his stool. After defeating Hill a second time and adding the WBC strap to his collection, Mormeck was knocked out in the 10th by IBF champ O’Neil Bell, ending what had been a close fight. It was the first time Mormeck had even been down, let alone out. The pair met again in 2007, this time for just the Mormeck’s old WBA and WBC championships. Mormeck boxed his way to victory in that encounter, setting the stage for a showdown with a brash Briton named David Haye, and Haye stopped Mormeck in the 7th in a fight that sent both men to the canvas.
Like Haye, Mormeck soon moved up to heavyweight. In the big leagues, he has beaten journeymen like Fres Oquendo and Timur Ibragimov.
Wladimir Klitschko (56-3, 49 KOs)
6’6″, 81″ reach, 35 years old
Five-fight weight average: 237.5 lbs
Ukrainian living in Germany
Two-time and current world heavyweight champion
Klitschko’s second reign as heavyweight champ began more than five years ago, and during that time he has risen to become the all-but undisputed champion. Only his older brother Vitali holds a fragment of the crown, and while many think of Vitali as being the stronger fighter, Wladimir is the busier and more accomplished boxer.
He is a big, athletic man who controls action in the ring behind a powerful, skillful jab. Wladimir has suffered from stamina problems and a suspect chin in the past, but at his point his poise in the ring and boxing ability ensure that he fights at his chosen pace and never suffers the kind of sustained assault necessary to reach and dent his jaw.
Klitschko vs. Mormeck Preview and Analysis
This fight is the kind of match-up that cuts directly to the heart of the current crisis in the heavyweight division. Other than his older brother, no heavyweight in the division is big enough and talented enough to pose a threat to Wladimir Klitschko.
Jean Marc Mormeck highlights this deficit. The Hayemaker was tall enough and young enough to grow into a solid, mid-sized heavyweight, but Mormeck was short and stocky at cruiserweight. At heavyweight, he just doesn’t look like the fit, muscled warrior he was when he was 20 lbs lighter. Compared to Wladimir Klitschko, he is seven inches shorter both in terms of height and wingspan, and he is also four years older.
In theory, a shorter fighter can turn a bigger man’s size against him, using movement or rugged determination to operate inside the bigger guy’s power arc. In practice, no fighter has ever competitively out-boxed Klitschko, and since Sam Peter and 2005, no one has competitively punched with him either.
Mormeck is a good fighter up to a certain point, but against Klitschko he is almost a tomato can. I would be surprised if this bout is competitive even in spurts, and expect Klitschko to bag every round en route to a knockout.
Prediction: Wladimir Klitschko TKO6
