VITALI KLITSCHKO TKO9 JUAN CARLOS GOMEZ

Things went as expected in Saturday’s heavyweight title fight in Germany, seen live on ESPN Classic, as Vitali Klitschko wore down and beat up Juan Carlos Gomez in nine rounds.

Gomez showed heart to last as long as he did but after the opening round he was never in the fight. Klitschko was his usual methodical self, probing with the left and every now and again dropping in the right hand. What he does seems simple, but with his height and reach it is very effective.

All Gomez had to offer was a slapping left hand from his southpaw stance. He seemed to have deteriorated from the form he showed in his win over Vladimir Virchis, but perhaps that was because Klitschko was so dominant.

Once it became clear that Klitschko was going to win, which was by the third round, all that held the interest was how the towering Ukrainian would go about retaining his title.

As early as the fourth round the stoppage was looking likely. Gomez’s right eye was swelling and when a cut appeared over the eye in the fifth — probably as a result of Klitschko’s steady jabbing and occasional right hands — it looked as if the fight might not last much longer. When Klitschko suffered a cut on the hairline, though, it probably gave Gomez some small measure of hope and helped to keep him in the fight.

Gomez’s periodic rushes did seem to be taking Klitschko out of his stride a little but the former cruiserweight champion didn’t have the power or the strength to make any real headway. Klitschko looked a little flustered now and again but he was never in danger. He is one of the most relaxed European heavyweights you will ever see, with his left arm dangling by his side, confident in his ability to land punches from a safe distance.

I thought the end was near when Gomez got dropped by a right hand in the seventh, but he managed to hang on despite getting banged around the ring. I was surprised that Gomez made it through the eighth round. He was looking weary and discouraged but to his credit he kept going.

By the ninth Gomez could hardly stand, but when he got cut over the left eye from a head clash, and referee Daniel Van de Wiele deducted a point from Klitschko (under a WBC rule that isn’t in effect in the U.S.) there seemed a possibility that an inevitable Klitschko KO win would turn into an unsatisfactory technical decision. Klitschko knew, though, that Gomez had very little left and he finished him off the way a heavyweight champion should take care of business, knocking his man down and then belabouring him until the referee intervened after one minute, 49 seconds of the ninth round.

Once again, Klitschko showed that he is very difficult to beat. His opponents have to take risks to try to hit him, as if crossing a no man’s land to try to deliver punches. Klitschko isn’t an explosive puncher but his blows do damage and wear the other man down. A knockout is spectacular but Klitschko tends to beat his opponents into submission. The end result is the same — another inside-the-distance win for his record.