Wladimir Klitschko made up for one of the most painful losses of his career.
The Ukrainian heavyweight battered Lamon Brewster and scored a technical knockout after the sixth round Saturday to successfully defend his IBF and IBO titles in Cologne, Germany.
“I have waited for this fight for three years,” Klitschko said. “This was incredibly important for me. Today I could not lose. My confidence was such I simply could not lose.”
When the two met in 2004, Brewster stopped Klitschko with a fifth-round TKO to win the vacant WBO championship in Las Vegas.
Klitschko (49-3) clearly dominated the first five rounds, making repeated contact with his strong left jab that largely went unanswered.
Brewster (33-4) seemed to be standing up to the constant punishment, but two massive left-right combinations in the sixth round rocked the American. Before the seventh could start, Brewster’s trainer, Buddy McGirt, flapped his towel, and referee Sam Williams called the fight.
“He was the better man tonight,” Brewster said. “I did my best. I felt prepared, but he won fair and square.”
*Florante Condes of the Philippines won the International Boxing Federation’s mini-flyweight title with a split decision over Muhammad Rachman of Indonesia. Condes (22-3-1) knocked down Rachman (61-6-5) twice in the third and 10th rounds during the 12-round fight in Jakarta.
![Claudia Perez’s children could count on one hand the number of times they had seen their father cry. The day their mother left was one of them. Perez had worked her whole life for a dream that did not come true: Save enough money to take her family back to Mexico and live together in the town where they were all born. Instead, on a cold February day, she stepped onto a bus in Brighton Park and said goodbye, making the difficult choice between her loved ones in Mexico and her family in Chicago. “Don’t leave my love. No te […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ctc-VHR5442_183545767.jpg?w=525 "Claudia Perez’s children could count on one hand the number of times they had seen their father cry. The day their mother left was one of them. Perez had worked her whole life for a dream that did not come true: Save enough money to take her family back to Mexico and live together in the town where they were all born. Instead, on a cold February day, she stepped onto a bus in Brighton Park and said goodbye, making the difficult choice between her loved ones in Mexico and her family in Chicago. “Don’t leave my love. No te […]")
