Last night in at Madison Square Garden, New York Wladimir Klitschko successfully defended his IBF heavyweight championship for the first time against former Olympian Calvin Brock with a 7th rd TKO.

At the opening of the first bell Klitschko stalked Brock looking to land the big punch. Brock used good movement and defense to evade the champion’s punches. By the second round Brock began landing good punches to the body and picked his punches nicely.

Much of the same action followed in round three except it was the champion who landed the more effective punches by outworking Brock. In Round four, the champion used good foot work and boxed to avoid the body punches of Brock which seemed to have little effect. By round five, Brock finally broke through Klitschko’s defense by landing three good right hands before the round ended. In round six both fighters fought toe to toe action with Klitschko getting the better of the exchanges. In round seven the same action from the previous round resumed. Klitschko catches Brock with a beautiful right hand that almost KO’s the challenger. Brock surprisingly beat the count and attempt to continue, but was not allowed by the referee because he appeared unsteady on his feet. Klitschko improved to 47-3, 42 KO’s, while Brock dropped to 29-1, 22 KO’s.

At the post fight press conference Brock was gracious to the champion and stated: “I fought the legitimate best title holder. He was a lot better than I thought. My spirit is high. This is my first loss. A lot of heavyweights before they become champion they have two or three losses on their record. This is my first loss. I will be heavyweight champion of the world someday.” When Klitscko came to the post fight conference, he gave Brock credit as being a good fighter. Regarding his future as a champion he said, “I am interested in becoming a unified champion. I not champion until I unify. As for whom he would like to fight next, “I really would like to fight Valuev (WBA heavyweight champion) because it is a great fight.”

In the co-feature, a female bout, Laila Ali with Floyd Mayweather Sr. as her trainer, and her famous dad Muhammad Ali in the audience, totally outclassed opponent Shelly Burton in a 10 round WBC super middleweight championship bout.

Ali came out dancing and using her jab. It was clear she was the faster superior fighter. Ali landed right hands at will, while Burton was unable to close the gap. More of the same action followed in round two. In round three Ali stood and fought with Burton, but it was Ali who got the better of the exchanges. In round four Ali trapped Burton against the ropes and swarmed her with combinations. Burton getting punched with several punches that when unanswered turned her back to Ali and the referee mercifully called an end to the action at: 58 seconds of the 4th round much to the dismay of Burton. Ali improves to 23-0, 20 KO’s, while Burton dropped 8-3, 2 KO’s.
The post fight press conference was even more interesting as Ali was heckled by a female member of the media.

In order to prevent a verbal confrontation, the female media member was forced to leave by security. Ali went on to mention that she needed more challenging fights by facing opponents like Ann Wolfe. She mentioned, “These girls think there gonna get rich off fighting me. The money is just not there. I don’t tell the promoters what to pay the opponent. It’s because of me these girls are getting some exposure. I make more money outside of boxing.” After making her opening statement, female fighter Ijeoma Egbunnine 12-1, 8 KO’s stood up and began addressing Ali regarding not being her opponent that evening. Ali accused Ijeoma of having an opportunity, but refusing to sign the contract. Ijeoma stated it was an unfair contract, which had nothing to do with money ($12,500 purse).

She told WBAN there is a clause in the contract whereby should she defeat Ali; she has to grant a rematch to Ali. Her issue with the contract was that she is not to take any interim fights until the rematch takes place. With no time limit or venue written in the contract for when the rematch is to take place she will have to sit idle and not defend her championships and risk being stripped for inactivity until the rematch. Ijeoma also charged that Ali is the one who controls women’s boxing and intends to petition the WBC for a fight against Ali because she is her mandatory. She charges “Ali fights when she wants, who she wants, and when she wants. If she does not want to fight me, that is not going to stop me from being who I am. Mike Tyson did not have her father Muhammad Ali around to fight and he still became
great, I will move on with my career.”

In other bouts Manuel Medina improved his record to 67-15, 31 KO’s by defeating Kevin Kelly 59-8-2, 39KO’s in a 12 Rd Jr. Lightweight elimination bout. Scores were 114-114, 115-113 twice.

Derric Rossy improved his record to 14-0, 8 KO’s by defeating a game Shannon Miller 14-3, 8 KO’s in a 10 round NY State Heavyweight championship bout. Scores were 100-90 twice and 98-91.

Frankie Figueroa defeated the previously undefeated Joey Rios to retain is NY State Heavyweight Championship in a 10 rd Jr. Welterweight championship bout. Figueroa improves to 14-2, 10 KO’s, while Rios drops to 14-1, 6 KO’s. Scores were 96-94, 97-93, 95-95.

Andy Lee improved to 6-0, 3 KO’s by defeating Dennis Sharpe 17-3, 4 KO’s in a 6 round middleweight bout. Scores were 60-54 by all three judges.

Reggie LaCrete 1-0, 1KO had a successful pro debut by defeating Denys Lozada, 2-1, 0 KO’s in a four round light heavyweight bout.

Contact Ralph Rimpell at RLuvsboxing@aol.com