16.07.07 – By Fritz Drexel: Undefeated heavyweight Alexander “Sascha” Dimitrenko (26-0, 16 KOs) easily stopped Malcom “The Showstopper” Tann (23-4, 12 KOs) in a 5th round TKO on Saturday night at the Color Line Arena, in Hamburg, Germany.
It took a couple of rounds for the 6’7″ Dimitrenko to get untracked, but once he started opening up with combinations, Tann was reduced to that of a punching bag status. In the fifth round, Dimitrenko landed a flurry of unanswered punches, causing the referee to step and halt the bout when he saw that Tann was helpless against the ropes.
Dimitrenko, 25, ranked #2 in the WBO, had trouble landing effectively in the first round, as he had trouble getting his proper distance from Tann. Instead of using his long reach and fighting on the outside, Dimitrenko spent much of the round trying to land uppercuts and chopping right hands on the inside, neither of which were finding their mark during the round. For a tall fighter, Dimitrenko fights extraordinarily well on the inside, and has perhaps one of the best uppercuts for a large heavyweight, comparable to Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe. The problem, however, is that Dimitrenko appears to forget about using his reach, which makes him predictable as was the case in the first round. Tann fought very cleverly, moving his head a lot, and making Dimitrenko miss with his shots. Still, Dimitrenko won the round with the use of his jab and left hook, which he had little trouble landing when he remembered to do so.
In the second round, Dimitrenko continued to smother his punches while trying to fight inside. During this round, there were a lot of clinches initiated by Tann, who instinctively grabbed Dimitrenko anytime he got close, rather than trying to throw punches of his own. Aside from a number of jabs and left hooks landed by Dimitrenko, Tann did very little other than defensive movement of his upper body. I was impressed with Tann’s defense, which resembled Chris Byrd and Monte Barrett, although without their ability to land combinations.
In the third round, Tann hit Dimitrenko with a low blow, causing him to sink to the canvas in agony for several moments. When the right resumed, Dimitrenko landed two powerful right hands that connected to the head of Tann, and caused him to back up to the ropes. Dimitrenko was unable to follow up the punches with anything substantial, barely missing several hooks with knockout intentions. At the end of the round, Tann had an ugly swelling under his right eye, most likely from the two right hands he was hit by.
Dimitrenko finally was able to land his uppercuts in the fourth round, snapping Tann’s head back on a number of occasions with powerful shots. As the round approached the end, Dimitrenko landed a beautiful left hook, and a chopping right hand that sent Tann to the ropes, where Dimitrenko landed at will as the round came to a close. Tann didn’t throw many punches in the round, and mostly appeared to be in the survival mode. The problem, it seems, is that every time he would attempt to take a shot at Dimitrenko, he would quickly move backwards, looking like Wladimir Klitschko, and then fire off a quick jab that would connect to Tann’s face.
In the fifth round, Dimitrenko started off moving on the outside, and changing directions constantly while Tann slowly pursued him. Then Dimitrenko opened up with several leaping right hand leads, and looking very athletic in doing so. It’s hard to picture someone of that size throwing a punch like this, as it’s normally something that only the fighters in the lighter weight divisions can do effectively. Then, suddenly, Dimitrenko landed a short, chopping right hand to the top of Tann’s head, causing him to step back and look at the referee to complain, perhaps suggesting that the punch was to the back of his head. Not to waste a moment, Dimitrenko immediately attacked Tann, hitting him with big right hand that badly hurt him, and sending him to the ropes. Dimitrenko calmly pursued him there, and then landed four consecutive right hands, badly hurting Tann and prompting the referee to step in and put a stop to the bout before Dimitrenko could inflict any more damage.