by Bob Canobbio
Wladimir Klitschko successfully defended his version of the heavyweight title with one hand Saturday night in Cologne, Germany, stopping challenger Lamon Brewster after round six.
Klitschko landed 199 total punches- 162 of which were jabs!!! That’s an average of 27 jabs landed per round, nearly five times more landed jabs than the heavyweight average. Of his 434 total punches thrown, 346 were jabs- an average of 58 thrown per round- 12 more than the heavyweight average for TOTAL PUNCHES thrown in a round.
It not always how many punches (in Klitschko’s case jabs) a fighter throws, but rather how many he lands, and Klitschko was on pace to break CompuBox’s all-time record for jabs landed in a fight. That mark is held by Ike Quartey, who landed 313 jabs in his draw with Jose Luis Lopez on 10/10/97. 83% of Quartey’s total punches thrown were jabs and 81% of his landed punches were jabs vs. Lopez. The heavyweight record for jabs landed in a fight is 213, by Lennox Lewis, in his decision win over David Tua on 11/11/00. 78% of Lewis’ total punches thrown were jabs and 71% of his connects were jabs vs. Tua. Klitschko would have broken Lewis’ record late in round eight at that pace.
Brewster, coming off three surgeries on his left eye to repair a detached retina suffered in his title-losing fight to Sergei Lyakhovich on 4/1/06, hadn’t fought in 15 months and the rust (or was it fear reinjuring the eye) showed. Brewster, who shockingly ko’d a fatigued Wladimir on 4/10/04 to win a vacant heavyweight title, landed just 70 total punches all night, none having any effect on Klitschko.
A breakdown of Klitschko’s punch selection vs. Brewster reveals 80% of his total punches thrown and 81% of his landed punches were jabs. This jab-heavy punch output is now the norm for Klitschko since Emanuel Steward took over as his trainer. Of his 523 total punches thrown in his decision win over Sam Peter (9/24/05), 379 were jabs (72%). He landed 204 total punches vs. Peter, 129 of which were jabs, or 63% of his total connects. In his seventh round ko win over Calvin Brock (11/11/06) 72% of Klitschko’s total punches thrown were jabs and 62 of his 90 total connects (69%) were jabs. So, in his wins over Peter, Brock & Brewster, he’s averaged 38 jabs thrown per round and 14 landed among his 51 total punches thrown per round. That means 75% of his punch output is with the jab. That’s double the heavyweight average for jabs thrown and more than double for landed. He averaged just 13 power shots thrown per round (half the heavyweight avg.) and six landed (half the heavyweight avg.) vs. Peter, Brock & Brewster.
By comparison, Hall of Famer Pernell Whitaker, who had a pretty effective jab of his own, threw 866 total punches in his decision win over Santos Cardona. 519 of those total punches were jabs (60% of his output). Sweet Pea landed 272 of those jabs among his 526 total connects (52% of his total connects).
Whitaker also landed 286 jabs among his 464 total connects vs. fellow-Hall of Famer Azumah Nelson. That’s 62% of his total connects. He threw 989 total punches, 578 of which were jabs, or 58% of his output. Those ratios make Whitaker look like Joe Frazier compared to the breakdown of Klitschko’s punches in his last three fights.
Yes, Wladimir’s conserving energy and offering opponents less openings for counter punches, but what happens when he meets an opponent who’s successful in neutralizing his jab? We may not get an answer to that question given the lack of heavyweight talent out there and the styles of those either holding titles or in contention for a title.
