Wladimir Klitschko v Mariusz Wach

Ukrainian Heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 51) successfully defended his WBA "super", WBO, IBF, IBO and Ring Magazine Heavyweight titles as he thoroughly dominated the brave Polish challenger Mariusz Wach (27-1, 15) over 12 rounds.

The bout was one way traffic almost from the off as Klitschko used his exceptional jab and straight to bang against Wach's head not only keeping Wach at range but also keeping Wach behind his his guard. From the opening round Klitschko was immediately finding his range and timing and he really looked like a confident fighter dropping his hands and trying to goad Wach into opening up.

Although much of the bout was 1-sided, we did have some excitement in round 5 as Wach landed a really notable right hand that seemed to wobble the champion. The Pole tried to capitalise on wobbling Klitschko and unleashed a series of shots as he tried to finish off the champion, sadly however the bell stopped the challengers momentum.

After landing his hard right hand in round 5, Wach seemed to look for the punch through out the rest of the fight, though Klitschko's ability to control the range and pace of the fight really neutralised the perceived threat of Wach's power. In fact as the fight went on Klitschko became more and more confident and started to unleash 6 and 7 punch combinations, especially in round 8, the bouts most 1-sided round (and likely a 10-8 round).

Although Wach took a real pasting, especially in rounds 7, 8 and 11 he managed to show real toughness and refused to go down, shocking myself with his ability to absorb numerous thudding right hands from the champion. Sadly however toughness alone doesn't win you rounds and Wach struggle to make a case for any of the rounds as he was out landed, out classed, out boxed and out fought by a fighter who was simply too good for him.

On this showing Wladimir is certainly a fighter who isn't showing signs of aging. Whilst he may not have been able to stop or even drop Wach, that was more a testament to Wach's chin than anything else as he took a real beating. Another defense early next year is almost a given and I'd be surprised if Klitschko could ever have an easier looking 12-round defense.

For Wach, who was nicely given a round by Canadian judge Pasquale Procopio, this shows his level and he's certainly not world level. He's tough and will be a handful for most, though his limitations were obvious through out and despite being the bigger, longer man, he couldn't make his size count. He'll certainly be able to mix it in the fringes of world level though he'll never be a genuine world level fighter.

Alexander Povetkin v Hasim Rahman

Russian Heavyweight Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17) successfully defended his WBA Heavyweight title as he swiftly disposed of veteran American challenger Hasim Rahman (50-8-2-1, 41)  in what can only be described as a waste of time.

The opening round was somewhat quiet however it was highlighted by the fact Povetkin did manage to wobble Rahman with the only meaningful shot of the entire round. The shot seemed to make Rahman wary of Povetkin's power however the Russian failed to connect with another one until the second round.

Having realised he could hurt the challenger, Povetkin started the second round quickly and detonated another right hand that staggered Rahman into the ropes. Povetkin swiftly swarmed on the Rahman and threw a number of hurtful shots, including 3 massive right hands that detonated one after the other on Rahman. From then on it was only a matter of time before Gustavo Padilla was forced to step in (however he really did take his time).

Although this was a mandatory title defense it was a mismatch from the day it was announced and it showed in the ring as Rahman failed to land a notable punch in the 286 seconds it took Povetkin to stop him. Hopefully this loss will force Rahman into retirement rather than on the verge of being recycled for another title fight.

Whilst it was another win for Povetkin it really did little to answer the questions surrounding his stamina, durability or world level credentials. He did the job but it was against a very poor opponent, and hopefully he'll be out in a more meaningful bout either later this year or very early next year as he puts the memory of this farce behind him.

Vitali Klitschko v Manuel Charr

Although Vitali Klitschko (45-2,41) may now be 41 years old he managed to once again prove that he's one step ahead of father time as he made the 9th defense of his WBC Heavyweight title (since reclaiming it from Samuel Peter) by stopping Syrian born challenger Manuel Charr (21-1,11) in the 4th round.

Whilst Charr had talked the talk in the build up to the bout his didn't ever appear to be walking the walk. Whilst he started the bout well landing a right hand early on he was mostly forced to shell up thorugh much of the opening round as he was forced to take the unorthodox offense of Klitschko which both hit the guard and the split the guard of the challenger. Although Charr let his hands go late into the opener, it almost seemed as if he was there to survive the rounds and hope that Vitali was going to tire himself out hitting gloves, arms and Charr's forehead.

The second round was much like the opening round in that Charr was fighting behind his guard, rarely letting his hands go. Whilst he did land when he did throw punches Charr simply was doing enough to put Klitschko under any pressure at all and the champion did as he pleased. The round ended with Charr on the canvas suffering the first knockdown of his career. This showed that Klitschko had the power to get to Charr even if he was struggling to land clean on a regular basis.

Round 3 was Charr's best as he finally started to let his hands go and was starting to show some effectiveness with his pressure. Whilst he was certainly not winning the round he was starting to show some desire and seemed to force Klitschko onto the back foot more than once. Although Klitschko was able to land counters it seemed as if Charr had finally realised he needed to throw punches to win a fight.

After having his best round in round 3 Charr seemed to have grown in confidence slightly by the start of round 4, this confidence was however misplaced. After coming forward and letting his hands go early in the 4th round he was caught by a counter left hand which opened up a cut that bled, badly from the off from around his right eye. Although it took the referee a few seconds to spot it he soon walked Charr over to the ringside doctor who deemed the cut to be too serious for the bout to continue.

Having lost due to the cut Charr showed his anger at the decision by shouting and screaming whilst punching the ropes. Sadly however it was hard to sympathise with Charr, who suffered his first career loss, as he had done little to suggest that he was able to turn around a fight he had been clearly losing. Had he come to actually fight from the off rather than turtle up it may have been easy to feel sorry for the challenge.

With the champion may be on the verge of retirement he may well feel it's time to bow out with his head held high. He may have won and been totally in charge but he didn't look at his best and until the cut he looked to be in for a long (and rather tedious) night. Having been a 3-time world champion and one half of the most dominant boxing brothers in history he has his place in the hall of fame secured and really has little to add to his legacy by continuing to fight on