Klitschko Fight Results:
Wladimir Klitschko returned to action on Saturday, taking on challenger Alex Leapai. Stateside, the fight got little to no coverage or attention. However, it’s always big business overseas when Klitschko is in action. Right here, you’ll find the full breakdown of the Klitschko vs. Leapai results. Did the over-matched challenger find any way to make this a difficult encounter for the Heavyweight Champion of the World?
Klitschko Routs Inept Leapai!!!
Wladimir Klitschko dominated Alex Leapai in one-way action, bringing the curtain down emphatically in the 5th round. Klitschko dropped Leapai twice with right hands in the fifth, the second one eliciting a stoppage from referee Eddie Cotton at 2:05. It was a typical Klitschko bore-fest and a further testament to the lack of quality in today’s heavyweight ranks.
Klitschko, 247.5, scored an iffy knockdown a minute into the first when a jab felled an off-balance Leapai. It was a slow round and would set the tone for the remainder of the bout. Klitschko fought with an ultra-relaxed pace against a placid Leapai, 248. The master of range used his jab and zinged in the occasional right hand, but also was able to land left hooks and body shot. Already in the second, Leapai was looking a bit helpless.
Other than some ineffective head movement, Leapai offered very little. He would try a few sweeping single right hands or a left hook per round, all of which seemed to miss by a foot. Punchstats indicated Leapai landed 10 punches in 5 rounds and I defy someone to show them to be. Makes you question Punchstats to tell you the truth.
Leapai aimlessly pursued Klitschko, but stayed right at the end of his range and caught the full wrath from the long-reigning champion. Klitschko, able to control pace and range effortlessly, seemed to be as cool as a cucumber. Klitschko zinged some more jabs and rights into the face of Leapai in the 4th. The Samoan-born Australian’s face took on the countenance of a man who knew his fate and was out of his element.
Just when it looked like this might be the protracted kind of Klitschko exhibition against an outclassed opponent, he hit paydirt. A few rights rocked Leapai. A throwaway left diverted Leapai’s eyes enough to allow a Klitschko right hand to catch him unexpectedly and flush. Leapai was dropped, but rose late in the count for more. An urgent Klitschko again threw a left-right and Leapai was dropped on his rear-end. Eddie Cotton stopped the count and Klitschko was a TKO winner.
Klitschko did what he had to do. He’s great at it and it’s hard to take any shots at him.
But it’s only fair to bring up what appears to be a grotesquely-inadequate heavyweight division, where a guy like Leapai can get a shot. No disrespect to Leapai personally, but he failed in every measure. He came in at a career-high 248, a strange time to come in at your heaviest ever. And he looked extraordinarily sluggish, likely as a result of a slothful training camp. It says a lot about his motivation. In the ring, he showed a total lack of urgency. You see guys try harder in pick-up hoops at the park. While not every challenger is going to put forth a Rocky Balboa effort when given a title shot, is it too much to ask that a guy just give it a good whirl when fighting for the big title? From a strategic standpoint, you couldn’t draw up a worse plan than what Leapai employed in the ring. Combine that with no hunger or pride and this is what you get–another Klitschko one-way fight that possesses not the slightest hint of drama.
Is that a testament of Klitschko’s dominance? You betcha. But there’s room in the equation to account for what is most assuredly the worst heavyweight division in recent memory. No one in ten years has even managed to draw him into anything resembling an actual fight. Klitschko raises his record to 62-3 (52), while Leapai falls to 30-5-3 (24).
As always, continue checking back alter in the weekend for more post-fight aftermath, analysis and all the rest, and thanks for stopping by for our coverage of the Klitschko vs. Leapai results!
