Klitschko dominates Pianeta
Wladimir Klitschko (60-3) retained his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles with ease by stopping Italian Francesco Pianeta (28-1-1) in the sixth round at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Berlin on Saturday night.
The 37-year-old champion was never troubled as he put Pianeta down in the 4th and 5th rounds, and then Wladimir finished the contest in brutal style the following round after a powerful combination sent the 28-year-old challenger down again and although he got up, referee Ernest Sharif stopped the contest.
The fight was incredibly one-sided from the start with Wladimir holding out his left arm way in front of him to keep Pianeta from getting close to him. Wladimir took his time jabbing and nailing Pianeta with hard right hands. Pianeta took the shots real well until the 4th when he was knocked down from a jab to the head followed by a hard right to the head. Pianeta never saw the right that hit him because of the jab that came before it. Wladimir really loaded up on that shot and Pianeta wasn't expecting the sudden surge in power from the 6'6" Ukrainian.
In the 5th, Wladimir nailed Pianeta with a short left hook to the head that sent Pianeta down in a delayed reaction. Wladimir showed no real urgency to try and finish Pianeta off after the knockdown, looking for a one or two punch knockout rather than trying to overwhelm him with punches. Again, Pianeta made it to the next round but there would be no recovery, with a three-punch combination prompting the referee to bring the fight to a halt with eight seconds left in the round.
Wladimir will now head for a lucrative showdown with Alexander Povetkin, proposed for August, a bout that is expected to earn him £17 million.