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A lot of people can't stand the sight of their own blood. Unfortunately for Calvin Brock, Wladimir Klitschko is one of them. Klitschko and Brock were sailing along fairly evenly and without apparent animosity between them on Nov. 11 when Klitschko sustained a cut along his left eyelid late in the fifth round of their heavyweight confrontation at Madison Square Garden. By midway through the sixth, the gash had begun to widen significantly and several long rivulets of red trickled down the cheek of the IBF champion and dripped onto his shoulder.
Irked by their appearance and his own, Klitschko suddenly altered his approach and began throwing a hard, straight right hand behind a jab that had, to that point, been piling up points but doing little noticeable damage beyond controlling the distance and making it exceedingly difficult for Brock to get inside and work on the champion's body as effectively as he would have liked. That alteration in style began late in the fifth round but was emphatic in Round 7 when Klitschko twice in succession slapped Brock with his distracting jab and then whistled a straight right hand immediately behind it that found Brock's chin.
The first hurt him noticeably. The second split his defenses and caught him flush on the jaw. The force of it spun Brock sideways and sent him pitching face first to the canvas as if someone had knocked over a tall stack of unbalanced papers. The only thing that broke his fall was his face, which slammed the floor and left Brock lying in a heap of unconsciousness for several seconds.
Ultimately he would come too enough to lift himself to his feet but referee Wayne Kelly took one look into the challenger's eyes and saw a pool of emptiness and stopped the bout with 50 seconds remaining in the round, thus handing Klitschko not only his IBF belt back but a crushing one-punch knockout the likes of which have been all too seldom seen in the heavyweight division since the retirement of Lennox Lewis several years ago. [details]
Irked by their appearance and his own, Klitschko suddenly altered his approach and began throwing a hard, straight right hand behind a jab that had, to that point, been piling up points but doing little noticeable damage beyond controlling the distance and making it exceedingly difficult for Brock to get inside and work on the champion's body as effectively as he would have liked. That alteration in style began late in the fifth round but was emphatic in Round 7 when Klitschko twice in succession slapped Brock with his distracting jab and then whistled a straight right hand immediately behind it that found Brock's chin.
The first hurt him noticeably. The second split his defenses and caught him flush on the jaw. The force of it spun Brock sideways and sent him pitching face first to the canvas as if someone had knocked over a tall stack of unbalanced papers. The only thing that broke his fall was his face, which slammed the floor and left Brock lying in a heap of unconsciousness for several seconds.
Ultimately he would come too enough to lift himself to his feet but referee Wayne Kelly took one look into the challenger's eyes and saw a pool of emptiness and stopped the bout with 50 seconds remaining in the round, thus handing Klitschko not only his IBF belt back but a crushing one-punch knockout the likes of which have been all too seldom seen in the heavyweight division since the retirement of Lennox Lewis several years ago. [details]