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Wladimir Klitschko delivers a left to the head of American Ray Austin during the Ukrainian's defense of his IBF heavyweight title on Saturday.
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Klitschko stops Austin in second round
AP
March 10, 2007
MANNHEIM, GERMANY -- Wladimir Klitschko needed only a couple swings to stop Ray Austin. Now, the real heavyweight fight begins.
Klitschko successfully defended his IBF title by stopping Austin in the second round Saturday night, and his camp spent most of the postfight news conference blaming Don King, who promotes Austin, for holding up a heavyweight unification fight.
Klitschko said talks with WBA champion Nikolai Valuev for a June or July fight will begin, assuming the 7-foot unbeaten Russian beats Ruslan Chagaev on April 14.
Klitschko's manager, Bernd Broente, said they will try to work with German promoter Wilfried Sauerland, who co-promotes Valuev along with King.
"Valuev wants it and I want it," Klitschko said. "But you can imagine how hard it is to deal with Don King."
The Klitschko camp blamed King for holding up their attempts at unification several times.
Valuev, who watched the fight from a hotel room in Berlin, said he wanted to fight Klitschko, too.
"Brother, see you in the ring," Valuev said. "Of course it depends on my management."
Klitschko and older brother Vitali Klitschko promote themselves.
"This fight is about more than two fighters, it's about two promoters," said Vitali Klitschko, the former WBC champion planning a comeback.
Wladimir Klitschko won his latest defense rather easily. After measuring Austin for one round, the Ukrainian knocked down the American 87 seconds into the second with at least three left hooks. The American climbed to his feet but referee Eddie Cotton stopped the fight.
"I was surprised he got back up, but he wasn't clear in the head," Klitschko said. "I was motivated by the talk from Austin and his promoter, Don King, before the fight."
Klitschko improved to 48-3 with his 43rd knockout in the mandatory defense, while Austin fell to 24-4 with four draws and 16 knockouts.
Neither Austin nor King, both of whom had called Klitschko heartless before the bout, showed up at the postfight news conference.
Austin didn't land a meaningful blow in the first round.
Klitschko maneuvered Austin onto the ropes, snapped his head sideways with the first left hook, and then followed with a series of hooks, some missing as the American fell to the canvas.
"What you saw today, you're going to see more in the future — Wladimir is developing new punches, besides the right and the jab," his trainer Emanuel Steward said.
The crowd of 15,000 roared for Klitschko when he walked in, then jeered a fight that featured just a handful of punches.
Austin had been stopped just once before in his four losses, in the ninth round, by Attila Levin in July 2001. It also was his last loss.
The 30-year-old Klitschko won the title in April, stopping Chris Byrd in the seventh.
Austin earned the title shot with a draw in July against unbeaten Russian Sultan Ibragimov.
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