World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine retained his titles with a unanimous victory over Russian Alexander Povetkin at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Moscow on October 5 as he continued his dominance in the division.
As Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reports, the win was the 61st of Klitschko's career, extending his reign to seven years which is the second-longest in the history of the world heavyweight championship behind the legendary Joe Louis. The 37-year old champion holds the WBA, IBO, IBF and WBO championships with his older brother Vitali the WBC titlist.
"Alexander is a fighter and it was hard for him because I hurt him. But he stuck in there because he has a big heart," said Klitschko as relayed by Yahoo! Sports. "I wanted to finish it earlier. I wanted to land that one big punch and I think I could have done better."
Klitschko's win further cements his claim as one of the greatest in heavyweight boxing history, despite the division no longer the most competitive in the sport. The reigning world champion has succesfully defended his titles for the 15th time, which is the third-longest in history behind Louis and Larry Holmes. He also scored his 22nd career win in heavyweight title fight, tied for second most with Muhammad Ali.
Klitschko knocked down the challenger with a powerful left hook in the second round. Povetkin, who was undefeated prior to the match, went down three more times in the seventh round but managed to end the fight standing on his own.
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