Klychko resoundingly defends his WBO title in bout against Mercer (07/14/02)

Klychko resoundingly defends his WBO title in bout against Mercer

by Jaroslav Kernitski
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - More than 500 people joined the Klychko Brothers Fan Club on Saturday, June 29, to support Volodymyr Klychko in his defense of the World Boxing Organization heavyweight championship title against Ray Mercer at the Trump Taj Mahal arena.

Ukrainian national flags were all around the arena, especially in the fan club section, which was blooming with blue and yellow. Klychko said after the fight that he had never seen so many Ukrainian flags before, and that fan support helped him in the fight.

The 26-year-old Ukrainian retained his title, winning by technical knockout (TKO) with 1 minute, 8 seconds left in the sixth round. Mercer, whose record was 30-4-1 with 22 knockouts, was bloodied and humbled. In defeating Mercer by TKO, Klychko (whose record before this bout was 38-1 with 35 knockouts) did what no other fighter in the world had ever done.

The Ukrainian lowered the steel hammer on Mercer late in the first round, knocking him off his feet with two quick, stunning left hooks. Mercer lay flat on his back, but got up at the count of six. "I hit him and I was surprised he fell down," Klychko said. "He took a lot of punches and made the fight longer. It was not so much healthy for him, but he had to make that decision."

"He caught me with a big punch in the first round and I never regrouped," Mercer said.

Klychko was powerful and quick, but he also took tough punches. Mercer gave Klychko a welt over his right eye. However, Klychko dominated in punches thrown, 429 to 124, and in punches landed, 193 to 54.

"I never faced a guy with such a strong chin," Klychko said at a press conference after the fight. "It's the strongest chin in the world. It's like punching wood."

The performance by the 6-foot-7-inch, 243-pound Ukrainian again proved his reputation as the heavyweight division's next big thing.

"This was tough work for me, but I was ready for it," said Klychko, who earned $1.2 million for the fight while Mercer received $650,000. "It was very important to be here - every European fighter wants to fight here because America is the mecca for boxing. This was a beginning. Professional boxing is a show," Klychko said, "and people want to enjoy the show."

Tommy Brooks, who once trained Mike Tyson and is now on the Klychko team, said he would prefer to see Klychko fight at least once or twice more before engaging Lennox Lewis, the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation champ. He said Klychko's career is taking the form of "the dance, the prom and then the big ball. Klychko is at the prom stage."

"I feel myself very safe, very prepared, very ready to fight against Lewis," Klychko said. "The thing everyone has to remember is that Lennox Lewis could stop boxing at any time, at any moment, on any day. I do not want to take that chance. I don't think it would be so easy for Lewis to fight me. I have a quicker jab. I have what it takes to beat him."

Klychko thanked all the fans who had travelled to Atlantic City for his fourth defense of his WBO title and asked them to bring more fans for the next fight.

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