By James Slater – The official weights for tomorrow night’s Ring Magazine, WBO, IBF, IBO, WBA heavyweight title fight are in: defending champ Wladimir Klitschko came in at a ready 244.7-pounds, while challenger and former cruiserweight ruler Jean Marc Mormeck tipped-in at a fraction above 216-pounds..
Pretty much as expected – Mormeck has weighed 216 or very close to it for each of this three heavyweight wins – the weights go to show how much the 39-year-old Frenchman is up against it in the fight. Not only will “The Marksman” be giving away almost thirty pounds in weight to the world champ, he will also be giving away a whopping amount of height at just 5’11.5” to Wladimir’s 6’6.” In terns of reach, Mormeck looks to be in deep also – at just a 74” reach for him compared to 81” for “Dr. Steel Hammer.”
Many fans have criticised the quality of tomorrow night’s fight, yet neither Klitschko brother has avoided or ducked anyone. And Mormeck has at least trained hard judging by his physical appearance. The shaven-headed warrior sure has a glow about him. And who knows, maybe the upset is in the air. We’ve just seen that shocker over in Thailand, maybe 2012 will go down as a big year for boxing upsets?
It’s hard to make any kind of a case for Mormeck, 36-4(22), however – either from a boxing or an all-out slugging approach. Klitschko, who last fought in July of last year and in September of 2010 in his fight before that, might, just might, be ring-rusty, and Mormeck, if he uses his size to his advantage and uses a lot of head movement, might, just might, have some success in the early rounds. That’s about as much as I’m willing to give the challenger. As soon as Wladimir gets into his groove, the ending will not be too long in coming.
I’m sticking to my prediction: Klitschko by stoppage inside five-rounds.