Wladimir: My fight with Thompson is already sold out

By Jim Price: IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is reporting that his rematch against 40-year-old Tony Thompson is already sold out for their July 7th bout at the Stade de Suisse, Berne, Switzerland. This is pretty incredibly news because very few people care for this fight and see it as nothing more than a mismatch.

Wladimir already knocked Thompson out in the 11th round back in 2008, but he’s forced to fight him again because Thompson has clawed his way back to the #1 spot after winning five straight bouts, albeit against less than dangerous opposition. The IBF perhaps should have waited until Thompson had least beaten a live body before they gave him a #1 ranking, as this is going to be another terrible mismatch.

Wladimir said to Sky Sports News “This is going to be my 6th consecutive stadium fight, and we’re already sold out in Berne. I will face Tony Thompson in a rematch. I fought him four years ago. I won the fight in the 11th round, but he’s fought his way back to the number 1 mandatory position and I have to defend the IBF title.”

To listen to Wladimir speak about the fight, he almost sounds apologetic about having to take it because the fans are really turned off by this bout, as they also were for Wladimir’s last fight against the smallish 39-year-old Jean Marc Mormeck. Wladimir stopped Mormeck in the 4th round last March in Dusseldorf, Germany, and like the Thompson fight, it too was a sellout. The German boxing fans can’t get enough of Wladimir’s fights and they don’t seem to mind that he rarely fights anyone that you could consider an exciting opponent.

His bout with David Haye last July was an exception. More than few boxing fans would rather see Wladimir face Haye again than seeing him face guys like Mormeck and Thompson. However, Wladimir isn’t interested in facing Haye again nor is he interested in taking on Dereck Chisora.

Wladimir is interested in the careers of British heavyweights Tyson Fury and David Price. Wladimir said to Sky “Here in Britain you have two heavyweights that are young an true heavyweights. They are David Price and Tyson Fury. I think they are both very talented and I think they will go on after a certain period of time to the top or they will become champions after a certain period of time. And I have to say that one of them will end of as an opponent for the Klitschko brothers.”

It’s likely that Fury will be that fighter because he’s already ranked high by the WBC and it’s only a matter of time before he gets a shot against WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko or Wladimir.