Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine will attempt to hold onto his WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF titles when he faces Francesco Pianeta of Germany at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany this Saturday, May 4. Klitschko has an impressive record of 59-3 with 50 KOs while Pianeta is undefeated so far in his career at 28-0-1 with 15 KOs.The 37-year-old Klitschko has won his last 17 bouts, with his last defeat coming back in 2004. He’s stopped seven of his last nine opponents and owns an excellent knockout percentage of 81 for his career. Klitschko’s strengths are his size, conditioning, a heavy right hand, mobility and a stinging left jab. He’s also got tons of experience, with 157 rounds of world championship boxing under his belt. This will be Pianeta’s first shot at a world title.
In addition, Klitschko is a very skilled boxer. He’s never been beaten by a decision, but that means his three losses have all been by stoppage. This brings up the question of the big man’s chin and ability to take a shot. He may have had a questionable chin earlier in his career, but hasn’t really shown any signs of having one lately at all. However, it’s arguable that he’s taken on any elite, heavy-hitting heavyweights…as there aren’t many of them around these days.
There’s no doubt that Klitschko is an imposing and intimidating figure in the ring, and this could explain why his last half-dozen opponents have managed to muster up an average of just 24 punches per round against him. Out of those 24 , he gets hit by just five of them on average. It’s going to be impossible to beat the champion by throwing and connecting on so few punches every round unless you can knock him out.
The 28-year-old Pianeta is also a pretty big man, as he stands 6-foot-5 and weighs in at about 240 pounds. But like many of Klitschko’s opponents, he’s another European heavyweight with a good record, but not much else. He’s beaten a few name fighters and former world champions in Oliver McCall and Frans Botha, but they’re well past their primes. He doesn’t seem to have the power to stop somebody like Klitschko, and five of his last seven opponents have taken him the distance.
Pianeta isn’t too bad defensively and he can move around the ring pretty well for a big fellow. He’s also a southpaw, and that could take the champion a round or two to figure out. It’s quite possible that Pianeta is just here to survive and won’t be taking any chances. The WBA has him ranked at No. 12 and the WBO lists him as their No. 7 contender.
To beat Klitschko, Pianeta’s going to have to either knock him out or win the majority of rounds by dominating him. Neither of these scenarios is likely to work out. However, Samuel Peters dropped Klitschko several times while Ross Puritty, the late Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster have all stopped him.
If Pianeta decides the best course of action is to try to emulate these boxer, it’s probably his best bet here. Anybody can get decked by another boxer, especially one as big as Pianeta, but it’s doubtful it will happen here. Look for the champion to retain his belts by decision or late stoppage.
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