MOSCOW: Ukraine’s Vitali Klitschko successfully defended his WBC heavyweight title here Saturday after the referee stopped his bout with Germany’s Manuel Charr in the fourth round due to a cut over the challenger’s right eye.
The fight was stopped with 56sec remaining in the round.
Klitschko improved his record to 45-2, while Charr, who was unbeaten before his meeting with Ukraine’s 41-year-old veteran, fell to 21-1.
“I was a bit disappointed as I wanted to win today by a real knockout, not a technical one,” said Klitschko.
“I was ready to contine the bout and Charr was also ready for further boxing but it was the decision of the doctor and the referee, who are responsible for it and we could do nothing about it.
Fighting in the 30,000-seater Olimpiyski indoor sports arena, the hugely-experienced Klitschko started the bout as a hot favorite in what was his 17th world heavyweight championship fight.
Charr, a 27-year-old Beirut-born former kickboxer, brought with him an unblemished record in 21 fights and a seventh ranking by the WBC, but none of his opponents had been of the highest calibre.
The much smaller Charr was immediately on the defensive as the towering Klitschko stalked him behind his powerful jab and it was only in the closing seconds that the German attempted a couple of tentative punches.
Klitschko stayed well on top in the second round and he sent Charr crashing to the floor seconds before the bell for a standing eight count with a right hook to the side of the head.
The German challenger recovered well though and caught Klitschko with a brief flurry of punches in the third, but it was the Ukrainian who again won the round.
The fight then came to an aprupt end in the fourth when a Klitschko left hook brought a gush of blood from above Charr’s right eye and the referee was quick to step in and end the contest.
The German was furious with the decision, kicking the ropes in his anger, but it was clear from the amount of blood that there was no way he could continue.
“In the first two rounds Charr was concentrated on defense only and it was slightly difficult for me as I like it better when my opponents are fighting back,” Klitschko said.
“In the third and fourth he started to come out of his shell more and I had more chances to attack.
“But Charr is a true fighter. He was ready to fight to the end. I think this defeat will not stop him and I believe he has chances for a promising career in boxing.”
Ward stops Dawson
in 10th to retain titles
In Oakland, California, Andre Ward stopped Chad Dawson in the 10th round on Saturday to remain unbeaten and retain his World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council super middleweight world titles.
Ward pummelled Dawson — the reigning WBC light heavyweight champion who came down in weight to take the fight — sending him to the canvas in the third and fourth rounds before his final barrage ended it at 2:45 of the 10th.
Dawson rose from the canvas but looked dazed before referee Steve Smoger called a halt.
“These kinds of fights, you’ve got to take risks... you can mess around and lose your title to a fighter of that caliber,” said Ward, who improved to 26-0 with 14 knockouts.
Dawson fell to 31-2 with 17 wins inside the distance.
Ward’s speed and punishing left hand neutralized Dawson’s height and reach advantage. It was a left to the chin that sent Dawson down for the first time late in the third round.
Early in the fourth Dawson was down again as Ward landed another solid left and Ward was on top throughout the round with blows to Dawson’s body and head.
It was an impressive performance from the super middleweight champion who is respected for his skills but had not posted a win inside the distance since 2009.
“I love to win,” said Ward, who won Olympic gold for the United States at Athens in 2004 and emerged last year on top of the Super Six tournament to unify the super middleweight titles. “Finishing guys is the last piece of the puzzle.”
Dawson not only came down in weight, he agreed to fight in Ward’s hometown of Oakland. He praised Ward, but hinted that dropping the weight may have been more draining than he realized.
On the undercard, WBC lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco of Mexico stopped John Molina Jr. 44 seconds into the first round.
DeMarco improved to 28-2-1 with 21 knockouts while Molina fell to 24-2.
Klitschko stops Charr in 4th, keeps title
Klitschko stops Charr in 4th, keeps title
Rublev marches on, Bublik and Draper fall at Dubai Tennis Championships
- No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev, the 2022 champion, dispatches Ugo Humbert in epic three setter 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3
- Tallon Griekspoor upsets No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets to set-up quarterfinal clash with No. 6 seed Jakub Mensik
DUBAI: Andrey Rublev signaled his determination to reclaim the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title on Wednesday, as the ruthless Russian dispatched fellow former champion Ugo Humbert in a titanic, three-set tussle on center court.
As a two-time finalist in Dubai and the winner there in 2022, Rublev already has fond memories of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. Meanwhile Humbert, who has also tasted success in Dubai having edged Alexander Bublik to the title in 2024, was looking to tame a second former winner in the space of 24 hours after eliminating reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday.
In the early stages of the match a smattering of vocal young fans stirred up an endless cacophony of noise from all four grandstands as the near-capacity crowd repeatedly serenaded both players with cries of “Let’s go, Andrey” and “Allez, Ugo,” the even split among the supporters mirroring the evenly matched contest.
The nail-biter of a match went with serve for the first six games before, as is so often the case in professional tennis, the seventh proved to be a critical turning point. Rublev took advantage of two break points afforded by a pair of uncharacteristic double-faults by Humbert to achieve what Tsitsipas had failed to do in the entirety of their Round of 32 clash: he broke the Frenchman.
The set then resettled into a familiar pattern as the pair once again held serve amid minimal threats. And so, after 41 minutes of the back-and-forth, Rublev claimed the opening set 6-4 courtesy of that sole break of serve.
The second set mirrored the first, this time with both players avoiding a break of serve, until Humbert, the current world No. 37, narrowly edged the tiebreak 7-5 to even the match.
With very little separating the battling duo at this point, their seesaw duel was akin to two prize fighters exchanging punches with neither able to land a decisive blow. Buoyed no doubt by the feverish support from their respective fans, both players refused to buckle.
But then, with the third set tied at 1-1, Rublev held serve, broke and held again to win three straight games and move 4-1 ahead. The match then, predictably, once again went with serve until it was 5-3.
Then Humbert, facing the prospect of elimination, suddenly found himself with two break points as his opponent wobbled while serving for the match. The steely Russian held his nerve, however, and dispatched a trio of massive serves, including two aces, to reverse the deficit and set up his first match-point.
That was all the 28-year-old needed, as another huge serve forced a Humbert error and sealed the match 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
“It was a very dramatic ending,” Rublev said. “I’m really happy I was able to keep going and save the last game.
“It’s difficult to close a match; you can make a double-fault or a mistake, but I made three good serves and that helped me a lot. It’s much easier to win points from the serve than playing rallies every time.”
He commended his opponent, saying: “Ugo played really well. I took my two break chances but he served unbelievably all match. He shoots super hard and very fast, so it’s not easy to do something. I had to be ready for the one chance to break him in a set, and I got those chances and was able to do it.
“This match gives me a lot of confidence, so we’ll see what will happen in the quarterfinal. I’m playing well, so let’s see.”
Rublev now faces another Frenchmen, Arthur Rinderknech, who emerged victorious from a grueling three-set marathon against the British No. 4 seed, Jack Draper, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4.
Their match, which finished well after midnight and with an eerie mist hovering over center court, yielded only two breaks of serve, both of which went Rinderknech’s way. Despite the defeat, Draper can head home with his head held high as his return to top-level tennis continues after a six-month injury layoff.
On the new court 1, Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands pulled off the biggest upset of the day by taming No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets 6-3, 7-5. The win earned the world No. 25 a quarterfinal encounter with No. 6 seed Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, who made short work of the Australian, Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-2.
