Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine will be aiming to defend his numerous heavyweight title belts on March 3 when he takes on former cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck of France at the ESPRIT arena, in Dusseldorf, Germany. Klitschko will need some help carrying the belts into the ring with him since he’s the WBA, WBO, IBO, and IBF champion of the world.
At 35-years old, Klitschko is arguably in the twilight of his career, but Mormeck is even older at the age of 39. Even though the champion towers over his opponent he said he’s not going to make the mistake of taking him lightly. He added that Mormeck has the determination and will to become the first ever heavyweight champion from France, and he won’t be a pushover. However, many boxing experts may not agree with Klitschko’s last statement.
Klitschko stands 6-foot-6 and has an 81-inch reach while Mormeck is just under 6-feet tall with a 74-inch reach. This will be the challenger’s fourth fight in the heavyweight division and the heaviest he’s ever weighed in during his career has been just over 216 lbs. The lightest Klitschko has ever weighed in has been 220 lbs. and that was in his pro debut back in 1996. Over the last few years he’s been fighting between 240 and 245 lbs., so size-wise he’s got all the advantages.
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Klitschko doesn’t really see it that way though as he says it’s a lot harder fighting a shorter opponent and who’s to argue with him? He’ll be entering the ring with a record of 56-3 with 49 knockouts. He hasn’t lost a fight in the last eight years since Lamon Brewster knocked him out in the fifth round in 2004 and has a 14-fight winning streak on the line.
Mormeck, who started his pro career as a light heavyweight in 1995, has a record of 36-4 with 22 KOs. His most impressive wins have been against Timur Ibragimov, which was his last fight, as well as Wayne Braithwaite, O’Neil Bell, Virgil Hill (twice), and Dale Brown. He lost twice early in his career and has also suffered defeats at the hands of David Haye, and Bell.
This fight was supposed to have taken place back on Dec. 10, but Klitschko had to pull out due to kidney-stone surgery. And that brings up another problem for Mormeck; he hasn’t fought in more than two years since his last fight was against Ibragimov in February of 2010. In fact, he’s only fought five times in the last five years.
Mormeck said he’s not worried about the size of Klitschko as he’s tough mentally as well as physically and doesn’t fear anybody. He acknowledges that the champion is a great boxer though, but insists he’s going to make the best of his chance. Mormeck has a puncher’s chance, but that’s about it in this fight. He’s going to have to get inside of Klitschko’s jab to be able to land anything of significance.
It’s hard to see this fight going any other way than a Klitschko win. It’s his 60th pro fight and he’ll be gunning for his 50th knockout. There’s a good chance he’ll get it too.
Sportsbook 5dimes.com has the current odds of Klitschko retaining his assortment of heavyweight titles at -5000 with the underdog Mormeck pulling off an upset at +2500. The odds of the bout going over 6.5 rounds are -105 and the odds of it being stopped under 6.5 rounds at -115. Visit 5Dimes.com to place a bet on this fight.
Jean-Marc Mormeck betting • Wladimir Klitschko betting