Wladimir Klitschko TKO 5 Alex Leapai live round-by-round update

Photo by:  Martin Rose –
Article by Lem Satterfield –

RingTV.com has a live round-by-round update of RING/IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko’s 16th defense against Alex Leapai, whom he dropped once in the first round and twice in the last of a fifth-round technical knockout today at Koenig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Referee Eddie Cotton waves an end to the bout at the 2:05 mark of Klitschko’s 16th defense, which ranks third, all-time, among heavyweights behind Joe Luis with 25, and, Larry Holmes, with 20.  Klitschko is 23-2 with 18 knockouts in title bouts.

The 34-year-old Leapai (30-5-3, 24 knockouts) was out-landed, 147-to-10, representing the 25th title fight for Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs), a 38-year-old who has been stopped in the 11th round by Ross Puritty in December 1998, in the second round by Corrie Sanders in March 2003 and in the fifth round by Lamon Brewster in April 2004.

But since falling to Brewster, a loss he avenged by sixth-round knockout in July 2007, Klitschko has won 20 consecutive bouts, 14 of them by stoppage, having previously last been in action for a unanimous decision over Alexander Povetkin last October for which he weighed 241.6 pounds compared to 225.75 pounds for his previously unbeaten rival.

In Leapai, Klitschko faced a 6-foot fighter who was coming off November’s unanimous decision victory over Denis Boytsov, who was floored in the seventh and ninth rounds.

Photo by:  Frank Augstein –

KLITSCHKO WINS BY FIFTH ROUND TECHNICAL KNOCKOUT OVER LEAPAI AT THE 2:05 MARK!!!!

1. Klitschko out-weighed Leapai, 274.4 to 248. Jab, jab, early by Klitschko. Leapai ducking really low, trying to set up a haymaker. The 6-foot-6 Klitschko’s leaning, at times on the 6-foot Leapai.LEAPAI GOES DOWN FROM A COUPLE OF EARLY DOUBLE-JABS. Up at the count of eight by referee Eddie Cotton. Doesn’t appear to be hurt. But Leapai eats two right hands. Klitschko continuing to jab and land the right. Not a good sign for Leapai. Klitschko, 10-8.

2.  Klitschko lands an early jab and solid right behind it to start the second. Leapai reaches and can’t land the left. Jab, Jab, right, right, by Klitschko near the ropes. Klitschko, who landed 10 jabs in the first round, continues to snap it in the second. Solid right hands landing also by Klitschko. Leapai is right there to be hit. Not cutting off the ring. Leapai is plodding and following. Zero intensity. Three, four, five, six jabs go unanswered by Klitschko. Seven, eight and then a right hand. Right hand by Klitschko, who has not had a need to go to the body. Jab is being used as a range-finder for the right, which Klitschko finally throws to the body. Klitschko, 10-9; Klitschko, 20-17.

3. More of the same to start the third. Leapai reaches and misses with a left. Four, five six jabs before a right lands. Left hook by Klitschko. Left, right, left by Klitschko. Sweeping left hook to the body by Klitschko followed by a right. Three jabs and two lead righ hands. Five-punch combination by Klitschko, two of which are uppercuts. Left jab, left hook, two hard right hands off the top of Leapai’s head. Right uppercut and left hook by Klitschko, who dances away. Leapai tries a right taht clubs. Jab to the body by Leapai, right hook by Klitschko. Right hand misses by Leapai. Left hook, jab by Klitschko and then a right and a left. Left jab backs up Leapai to culminate a three-punch combination. Three right hands by Klitschko and a jab that again stuns Leapai. Hard right at the bell by Klitschko. Klitschko, 10-9; Klitschko, 30-26.

4.  Jab, jab, jab hard right by Klitschko to start the fourth. Klitschko’s jabbing and siting down more on the right hand against the starting to reel Leapai. Two Klitschko rights, the second, wobbling Leapai. Easy work as long as Leapai fails to press. Leapai’s eating Klitschko’s jabs. Jab, jab, right hand, jab by Klitschko. Leapai’s on the canvas from a ruled slip. Starting to look like target practice for Klitschko with the piston jab and the harder right hands. Left to the body and lunging left hook that miss for Leapai. Head-popping right hand by Klitschko, two jabs, and another hard right all by Klitschko. Another hard right hand by Klitschko. Klitschko, 10-9; Klitschko, 40-35.

5. Four, five left hooks by Klitschko to start the fifth. Three jabs and a right to the body by Klitschko. Triple jab by Klitschko. Leapai can’t get in. Head-popping jab, right, and two more jabs. Right hand nearly lands for Leapai. TWO RIGHT  HANDS HURT AND WOBBLE LEAPAI, WHO RETREATS!!! JAB AND RIGHT HAND FLOORS LEAPAI, HE’S UP AT THE COUNT OF EIGHT. 1:10 LEFT. JAB, RIGHT HAND, JAB, RIGHT HAND, LEFT HOOK, RIGHT, AND LEAPAI IS DOWN, UNDER THE ROPES. HE’S DONE. REFEREE WAVES IT OFF!!!!

KLITSCHKO WINS BY FIFTH ROUND TECHNICAL KNOCKOUT OVER LEAPAI AT THE 2:05 MARK!!!!

Photo by:  Frank Augstein –

http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/335133-wladimir-klitschko-vs-alex-leapai-live-round-by-round-update

Date:  Saturday, April 26, 2014

WBO Heavyweight Championship Title

Location:  Oberhausen, Germany

Promoter:  KMG/Hamburg, Germany

Supervisor:  Francisco Valcárcel, Esq.

Referee:  Edward Cotton

Judges:  Deon Dwarte (40-35), Glenn Feldman (40-35), Zoltan Enyedi (40-35)

Result:   Champion Wladimir Klitschko retains the WBO Heavyweight Title over Alex Leapai by TKO in the fifth round.

Photos:  Lynne Sladky – Yahoo Photo Gallery

Article by Adrian Warren –

Multiple heavyweight world title-winning boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko has described Alex Leapai’s style as “pure violence,” but insists he won’t take his Australian challenger lightly.

Klitschko will put the the WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO titles on the line against Queenslander Leapai in Oberhausen, Germany in the early hours of Sunday April 27, Australian time.

The towering 38-year-old Ukrainian (61-3, 51 KOs) is riding a 19-fight win steak and hasn’t lost for ten years.

Leapai 34 (30-4-3 24 KOs) earned his shot with a unanimous points win in Germany last November over Denis Boytsov, taking the Russian’s No.1 WBO ranking.

“I think Alex has been successful with his style, I call it pure violence in the ring, and he became number one mandatory, thanks to that style,” Klitschko said in press conference in Austria.

“I think that he doesn’t have much idea about technique, strategy and tactics in a fight, or in the fights that I’ve seen.

“But he really doesn’t need it because he has so much strength naturally.

“He will try to get inside and fight and do the hay-making.

“He has some downsides but has some really strong sides.

“It’s going to be really challenging for me because of the size difference as well and his desire to win.

“I could tell, and I saw it at the press conference (recently in Germany), he’s determined, he really wants to make it happen.

“I think that Alex is certainly very motivated to become a champion and he’s the guy that has nothing to lose.”

Klitschko dismissed the suggestion he would use his massive height and reach advantages to box Leapai from the outside and avoid getting hit at close quarters.

“No, I will stand there at a close distance and I will fight him close so he’s going to feel there’s definitely another Mike Tyson,” Klitschko said.

The champion is an overwhelming betting favourite for the fight, but experience has taught Klitschko the underdog normally rises to the occasion.

“I’m definitely not going to take Alex Leapai easily, I’m taking him even stronger,” he said.

“Because in the night when challengers are in the ring, I’m telling you out of my experience, they are better than they usually are.

“Because this is their life chance and it’s definitely a life chance for Alex Leapai.”

http://www.boxingscene.com/klitschko-says-no-chance-inside-fight-with-leapai–76607

WBO/IBF/WBA/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko was working hard during a training session at the Hotel Stanglwirt in Going, Austria. Klitschko is scheduled to defend his titles against the mandatory WBO challenger Alex Leapai of Australia at the Koenig-Pilsener-Arena on April 26 in Oberhausen, Germany.  Leapai, a heavy underdog but a big puncher, secured his mandatory shot after last year’s upset decision over previously undefeated Denis Lebedev.

http://www.boxingscene.com/photos-w-klitschko-working-hard-leapai-defense–76511

Credit/Picture: Nathan Richter Source: News Limited –

By Adrian Warren –

Alex Leapai is poised to live a “bat-like” existence in the days before his boxing world heavyweight title challenge to Ukrainian great Wladimir Klitschko.

Finally over a calf muscle injury, Leapai has begun sparring in the second phase of a two-stage preparation aimed at unseating the formidable Klitschko in Oberhausen, Germany, on April 26.

Hee took to the gym for a six-round workout with former NSW and Australian heavyweight champion and rugby league star Solomon Haumono on Wednesday.

But Romania’s Razvan Cojanu, who is 202cm tall, will be imported to help him prepare for fighting 198cm Klitschko, who is 15cm taller than the Australian.

Leapai’s trainer-manager Noel Thornberry said they had adopted a conservative approach in waiting for the calf injury to heal, but it hadn’t impacted on their preparations as they’d done several weeks of strength, conditioning and flexibility work.

“Seven weeks is plenty of time to prepare practically, because we don’t want to leave the fight in the gym,” Thornberry said.

Leapai will arrive in Germany seven days before the bout, but will keep unusual hours, according to Thornberry, as they draw on acclimatisation lessons from Leapai’s fight there last November when he beat Russia’s Denis Boytsov to earn his title shot.

“We do it a little bit differently, sleep when we’re tired and we eat when we’re hungry,” Thornberry said.

“We’ll sleep through the day and not get out of bed until one o’clock in the morning their time which is nine o’clock in the morning our time.

“Then we’ll go back to 12 (midnight), then 11pm, then 10pm.

“11 o’clock is the time we have to step in the ring German time.

“We live a little bit like bats from the German perspective.”

Leapai admitted he had already envisioned himself winning the title.

“I do, I dream about it,” Leapai said.

“I’ve just got to do the hard work now and hopefully that dream does come true.”

http://www.boxingscene.com/leapai-continues-tough-march-camp-klitschko–75547

Vladimir Klitschko and Alex Leapai pose after their press conference. Photo: Reuters

Alex Leapai hasn’t been fazed by his first face-to-face meeting with the much taller Wladimir Klitschko, declaring he plans to exploit a weakness in the triple heavyweight world boxing champion in their title fight in Germany.

They met for the first time at a press conference on Wednesday morning in Oberhausen, where Leapai will attempt to cause a massive upset on April 26.

There was no trash talk from either man, with 37-year-old Klitschko speaking respectfully about Leapai and refusing to look beyond his bout with the Queenslander.

At 198cm tall, Klitschko (30-4-3, 24 KOs), is a whopping 15cm taller than 34-year old Leapai (30-4-3, 24 KOs) and also has a huge 16cm reach advantage.

The Ukranian colossus has won his last 19 fights and by the time he steps into the ring with Leapai it will be more than 10 years since his last loss.

Those impressive physical and fighting statistics and a close-up look at the champion have done nothing to shake Leapai’s belief he can topple the long-standing champion.

“Klitschko is a gentleman,” Leapai said after the press conference.

“He’s a very tall man, he’s no different to a lot of the guys that I’ve fought.

“But he’s probably a more experienced boxer and knows how to use his reach, so it’s something that we’ve got to work on.

“I’ve fought a lot of guys his height.

“We’ve just got to get inside. Once we get inside, it’s goodnight Irene.

“I know he’s not going to make it easy, but it’s just something that we’ve got to do, at short quarters.”

Leapai was convinced Klitschko would go into survival mode once he felt the Australian’s renowned punching power.

“He’s just a little bit taller than me, but he’s got a weakness and come April 26, we will expose that weakness,” Leapai said.

“I still feel that he hasn’t fought anybody over the last 10 years that has come to fight, that has come to take it off him.

“I just feel that it’s time for us Australians. It’s our time and I feel that once he feels what I’ve got, it’s all going to change.

“I’m just so determined to put Australia on the map and make history.”

A driver by trade, Leapai will be able to train full-time in the leadup to the biggest fight of his life due to help from his sponsor, Oxmar Properties.

“I get the opportunity now to train three times a day, before it was only two hours a day,” Leapai said.

“The main thing I’m focusing on is being fit and strong for this fight, just getting the right sparring partners too.”

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/boxing/alex-leapai-not-fazed-by-giant-wladimir-klitschko-20140212-32gk1.html

WBO/IBO/WBA/IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko has signed off on his contract to face WBO mandatory challenger Alex Leapai on April 26th in Oberhausen, Germany. Leapai became the mandatory challenger last year with a huge upset decision win over previous mandatory, and then undefeated, Denis Boytsov. Even with the huge upset, Leapai is coming into the fight as a huge underdog.

http://www.boxingscene.com/photo-w-klitschko-inks-contract-face-leapai-4-26–74309

Alex Leapai’s management wants to stage his looming WBO heavyweight world title bout against Wladimir Klitschko in Asia, where the Queensland slugger is known as the “Australian Mike Tyson”.

Leapai returned home on Tuesday after last weekend upsetting number one contender Denis Boytsov in Germany in a world title eliminator, despite suffering a calf injury in the seventh round.

The victory earned the 34-year-old fighter a crack at the formidable Klitschko.

Leapai’s trainer and manager Noel Thornberry expects the bout to take place between April and June.

“We’re hoping to bring it to Asia, as long as it pays well for everybody,” Thornberry said.

“I don’t think the Klitschkos will be too upset either, because it will introduce them to a new market.

“We’ve been doing a little bit over in Macau and Alex has actually had two fights in Asia.

“He’s got an enormous following over there, they call him the Australian Mike Tyson.

“When he got over there, you couldn’t walk up the street because people were mobbing him.

“After his first win over there they had to get a police escort to get him back to the dressing room from the ring.”

He said an ultrasound revealed Leapai had suffered two tears of his calf.

Thornberry expects his charge to resume full boxing training around mid-January.

“The good news is they don’t think it’s going to require any surgery,” Thornberry said.

“We’ll probably take two weeks of complete rest and then start back in with some core strength and conditioning and flexibility.”

While Klitschko will enjoy a huge 15cm height advantage over Leapai, the Australian has proven he can knock down tall timber.

In 2011, he unleashed a savage uppercut to knockout 207cm Russian giant Evgeny Orlov, a sparring partner of Klitschko.

“With the right preparation we’re very confident he’s going to do it (beat Klitschko),” Thornberry said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-26/alex-leapai-wants-title-fight-with-wladimir-klitschko-in-asia/5118386