By James Slater: Heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko had absolutely no problems at all in picking up his 50th KO victory last night. As fans expected, 39-year-old Frenchman Jean Marc Mormeck was in way over his head and had next to no chance of even making the fight competitive. Before the fight, doing the best he could to build up the mismatch, Wladimir’s trainer Emanuel Steward said Mormeck would last at least six rounds.
Hardly a way to make you cancel plans so as to watch the fight, it turned out that Steward was giving “The Marksman” too much credit. Wladimir could’ve probably ended this in the 1st or 2nd-round, yet he allowed Mormeck to see the 4th. It’s not Klitschko’s fault he is having to fight guys who are nowhere near his league; there is simply a lack of worthy contenders today. But the 35-year-old (36 on the 25th of this month) will have to find someone to fight next – who should it be?
Post-fight, Wladimir mentioned Tyson Fury and David Price, both from the U.K, as well as Chris Arreola of L.A. Alexander Povetkin, unbeaten as he is and also holder of the near-meaningless “regular” WBA heavyweight strap, is another fighter Klitschko would like to face. Not mentioned but very much looming, is a return fight with Tony Thompson, a former KO victim Wladimir somehow owes a mandatory to.
From this small list, Arreola’s name looks the most worthy. Price and Fury are both promising up-and-comers (Price especially, what with that crunching right hand and great amateur background) but both men need way more experience before going in with Wladimir (although Frank Maloney, Price’s promoter, recently said his man will be ready for Wladimir in four fight’s time).
Thompson would likely get stopped once again if he fought Vladimir a second time, but Arreola, with his newfound desire and dedication, would have at least a so-so shot at making the fight exciting. That’s about as much as we can ask for at the moment: it is simply crazy predicting anyone wins against the Ring Magazine, IBF, WBA, WBO, IBO king.
Arreola lost to big brother Vitali, yet he has been on a decent winning streak since (barring his points loss to Tomasz Adamek) and his power and aggression would possibly see to it that he has his moments against Wladimir. This match-up, if it happens in the U.S, will attract a good crowd. Then maybe, if he’s still fighting, Wladimir could face Price in a big fight in early or late 2013.