Referee stopped the slaughter
Corrie stuns boxing world
South African stops giant Ukranian Klitschko in second round of dramatic WBO heavyweight title fight
David Isaacson
in Hannover, Germany
aus Sundaytimes Süd Afrika
Corrie Sanders shocked the world when he obliterated Wladimir Klitschko inside of four minutes to win the WBO heavyweight championship last night.
He waited 13 years and 11 months for this chance and he wasted no time taking it with a left hand that felled the giant Ukrainian three times before the referee stopped the slaughter.
Sanders, 37, and considered a no-hoper by most of the locals here, sent the champion to the canvas twice in the opening round, a third time early in the second, and the referee had no option but to stop it when Sanders swarmed all over a dazed Klitschko.
Klitschko, 26, was widely rated as the second-best heavyweight after Lennox Lewis, with some even ranking him the best in the world, but he folded beneath the fists of Sanders who for so long has been underrated and deprived of opportunities.
The Sanders camp, however, had planned this fight to perfection, relying heavily on their charge's hand speed, accurate punching and devastating power.
It was all too much for Klitschko. This was anything but a lucky punch, although Sanders's handlers tried their best to generate as much good fortune as they could.
Promoter Rodney Berman wore what he calls a good luck charm, a bracelet given to him by Panamanian boxing legend Roberto Duran in 1997. On Friday evening, Sanders also received a call from Lennox Lewis wishing him luck and advising him to pressure Klitschko. That's exactly what Sanders did.
Sanders's trainer, Harold Volbrecht, had advised Sanders not to rush the champion early on but to wait for his opportunity - the opportunity came quickly. Optimism was high early in the week with Volbrecht saying he had detected a rare confidence in Sanders, spotted previously only before his demolition jobs on Bert Cooper in 1993 and Al "Ice" Cole a few years later.
Sanders is the third South African to have challenged for the WBO title after Johnny du Plooy and Fransie Botha. He was the first to succeed and becomes only the third SA heavyweight to win a quality world title after Gerrie Coetzee (WBA) and Botha (IBF).
Nearly 11 000 fans packed into the Preussag Arena, which in the next two months will be the stage for concerts by top stars such as Bryan Adams, Paul McCartney, Mark Knopfler and West Life.
SA featherweight champion Takalani Ndlovu easily outpointed Anthony Martinez of Nicaragua over eight rounds on the undercard.
Ndlovu put up an impressive display, boxing behind his jab and attacking both his opponent's head and body. He showed he is able to fight going forward and moving backward and occasionally switched to a left-handed stance. But he lacked imagination at times, especially after landing with fast combinations. His record improved to 20-1 with 12 stoppages while Martinez dropped to 18-7-2.
Ethiopian Samuel Kebede, who used to fight out of South Africa but is now based in Sweden, easily beat Ivo Golakov of Bulgaria, stopping him in the second round.