Wladimir Klitschko retained his heavyweight titles when he beat Alexander Povetkin in a lopsided decision in an absolutely boring fight in Moscow on Saturday night in Moscow.
All three judges ? Ted Gimza, Glenn Feldman and Philippe Verbeke had Klitschko winning by a huge 119-104 margin after he dropped Povetkin once in round two and three more times in round seven to seal what many ringsiders said was an ugly fight marred by incessant holding and grappling.
With the victory the 37-year-old Wladimir retained his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts while his brother Vitali holds the WBC title.
In a fight that was described as ?the most boring of the year? Wladimir ended Povetkin?s undefeated streak while he himself improved his record to 61 wins with 51 knockouts and three defeats.
Povetkin a former Olympic gold medalist dropped to 26-1, with 18 knockouts.
The Russian who was some 10 centimeters shorter than the giant Klitschko couldn?t overcome the height and reach advantage of the Ukranian.
Klitschko earned just over $17 million for his title defense while Povetkin earned a little less than $6 million.
In a post fight interview Klitschko said "That was a tough bit of work, he's a real fighter. I kept landing the punches, but he stayed in there. I believe it was a deserved win, but I think I can still improve."
For his part Povetkin said: "Things didn't quite go as well as I wanted, but I never give up. Of course, he was the better fighter. He's the best in the world, that's clear."
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