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KLITSCHKO STOPS MERCER

By Danny Serratelli, ringside

A lot of eyes were opened to the skills of Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday night in the Mark Estes arena at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Just like in the Mike Tyson- Lennox Lewis fight a few weeks ago, it is difficult to tell how much credit to give the 26 year old Wladimir Klitschko for stopping the always tough, but 41 year old, “Merciless” Ray Mercer in the 6th round. In my estimation the younger Klitschko brother, Wladimir, deserves a lot of credit for stepping it up a notch in this fight and stopping Mercer impressively.

Mercer has never been stopped in his career and has been down only once when he took a knee against Evander Holyfield in a close decision loss in 1995. It is true that Mercer probably hasn't fought a quality opponent since 1996 when he lost a majority decision to Lennox Lewis (which most ringside observers thought he won), and a decision win over Tim Witherspoon.

He didn't fight in 1997 and since that time has not gone the distance and has fought a total of 13 rounds in 6 fights. So there will be people who still feel that WladImir has a lot to prove. However he did not just win the fight, he dominated Mercer. Mercer to his credit came in shape at 228 pounds, the lightest he's been since he fought Holyfield in 1995.

Wladimir Klitschko came to America to fight Mercer, however an empty arena filled up right before the main event and if you didn't know any better you may have thought that the fight was taking place in the Ukraine. Fans from Klitschko’s home country had flags, and many had the colors of the flag painted on their face. Mercer entered the ring with a large American flag. It was reminiscent of the Drago fight in Rocky IV.

Klitschko started strong, but most ringside observers felt that the fight would be a long tough competitive fight. The crowd was shocked when Mercer was dropped in round 1. This was not a slip, or a questionable knockdown, nor did Mercer go down voluntarily as he did in the Holyfield fight, he was dropped from a solid left hook. Mercer, to his credit, got up and tried to press the action, but he just seemed unable to get his punches off without taking a few. It didn't look like a case of Mercer looking bad, but Klitschko looking good. Mercer kept trying to pump his jab for the next few rounds, but barely threw any power shots. Klitschko landed 193 of 429 total punches thrown, while Mercer landed only 54 of 124.

Klitschko appeared to hurt Mercer several times, which also surprised many observers. Mercer has always been a tough, confident guy, and several times he said or motioned that he was fine and urged Klitschko to keep coming. Klitschko did just that and even cut Mercer in the 5th; referee Randy Newman jumped in and stopped it in the 6th. Mercer was covering up at the time and not firing back. It appeared that Klitschko had more speed than people would assume considering his size.

It is difficult to envision anyone else in the heavyweight division dominating Mercer in the way Klitschko did, including Lennox Lewis. Yes Mercer is 41, has probably slowed down, and has not been active, however he was in great shape and has not had a lot of wear and tear on his body.

Klitschko deserves some credit for this one. At least now people should be able to tell him and his brother apart. The addition of Tommy Brooks to his corner should also help him, especially because of Brooks familiarity with many of America's top heavyweights. Will Lennox Lewis want to fight him? We'll have to wait and see, but Emanuel, Stewart has said that Klitschko needs a few more big fights in America to get the recognition and make a potential fight with Lewis as big as it should be. At 36, will Lewis wait, and have a few more big fights left in him? Only time will tell.

UNDERCARD:

Heavyweights- Sean Carrington (3-0, 3 KO’s) was upset by Cornelius Ellis (4-3, 3ko’s), unanimous decision.

Jr. Welterweights- Paterson New Jersey prospect Freddie Cadena (11-0, 7 KO's) looked impressive knocking out Carlos Rocha (29-12-5, 17 KO’s) at 2:28 of round 1.

Welterweights- North Philadelphia prospect Anthony Thomson (3-0, 2 KO's) won by a unanimous decision over Joseph Christy (2-1-1, 1 KO)

Light Heavyweights- Zsolt Erdet (10-0, 8 KO's) won by a unanimous decision over Darren Whitley (12-17-5, 4 KO's).

Heavyweights- Al Cole (31-10-2, 16 KO's) won by unanimous decision over Vincent Maddalone (15-0-1, 10 KO's).

Notables in Attendance: Jameel McCline, Riddick Bowe (who looked in very good shape), Mitch “Blood” Green, Chuck Wepner, Virgil Hill, Patrick Ewing, and Donald Trump.