Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine will attempt to hold onto his WBA, WBO, IBO, and IBF titles when he faces Francesco Pianeta of Germany at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany on Saturday May 4. Klitschko has an impressive record of 59-3 with 50 Kos while Pianeta is undefeated so far in his career at 28-0-1 with 15 Kos.

The 37-yer-old Klitschko has won his last 17 bouts with his last defeat coming back in 2004. He’s stopped seven of his last nine opponents and owns an excellent knockout percentage of 81 per cent for his career. Klitschko’s strengths are his size, conditioning, heavy right hand, mobility, and stinging left jab. He’s also got tons of experience with 157 rounds of world championship boxing under his belt. This will be Pianeta’s first shot at a world title.

In addition, Klitschko is a very skilled boxer. He’s never been beaten by a decision, but that means his three losses have all been by stoppage. This brings up the question of the big man’s chin and ability to take a shot. He may have had a questionable chin earlier in his career, but hasn’t really shown any signs of having one lately. However, it’s arguable that he’s taken on any elite, heavy-hitting heavyweights…as there aren’t many of them around these days.

There’s no doubt that Klitschko is an imposing and intimidating figure in the ring and this could explain why his last half dozen opponents have managed to muster up an average of just 24 punches per round against him. Out of those 24 , he gets hit by just five of them on average. It’s going to be impossible to beat the champion by throwing and connecting on so few punches every round unless you can knock him out.

The 28-year-old Pianeta is also a pretty big man as he stands 6-foot-5 and weighs in at about 240 lbs. for most bouts. But like many of Klitschko’s opponents, he’s another European heavyweight with a good record, but not much else. He’s beaten a few name fighters and former world champions in Oliver McCall and Frans Botha, but they’re well past their primes. He doesn’t seem to have the power to stop somebody like Klitschko and five of his last seven opponents have taken him the distance.

Pianeta isn’t too bad defensively and he can move around the ring pretty well for a big fellow. He’s also a southpaw and that could take the champion a round or two to figure out. It’s quite possible that Pianeta is just here to survive and won’t be taking any chances. The WBA has him ranked at number 12 and the WBO lists him as their number seven contender.

To beat Klitschko, Pianeta’s going to have to either knock him out or win the majority of rounds by dominating him. Neither of these scenarios is likely to work out. However, Samuel Peters dropped Klitschko several times while Ross Puritty, the late Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster have all stopped him. If Pianeta decides the best course of action is to try to emulate these boxers it’s probably his best bet here. Anybody can get decked by another boxer, especially one as big as Pianeta, but it’s doubtful it will happen here. Look for the champion to retain his belts by decision or late stoppage.

For the latest odds on the bout visit http://sports.visitorium.com/bet365/

Miguel Cotto avenged his 11th round KO loss to Antonio Margarito in 2008 in another epic battle between the two in front of over 21,000 fans at Madison Square Garden in New York on Dec. 3. Cotto dominated most of the fight and it ended after the ninth round when the doctor recommended to referee Steve Smoger that it be stopped due to the condition of Margarito’s right eye, which needed 12 stitches to repair.

Margarito’s eye was a hot topic of discussion going into the fight and he wasn’t licensed for the bout in New York until a week before it took place. He had to pass several doctor’s tests on the eye since his orbital bone was surgically prepared after his unanimous decision loss to Manny Pacquiao in November 2011. The New York State Athletic Commission was always going to be cautious with any eye damage and it proved to deciding factor in the fight.

Cotto deserves full credit for the victory though as he fought an excellent and smart fight. He was noticeably motivated, landed the harder and cleaner shots and confused Margarito with his movement. The motivation, of course, stemmed from the first fight between these two when Cotto’s face was busted up and he was stopped in the 11^th round. The biggest controversy regarding that fight didn’t surface until six months later though when Margarito was caught with a hardening plaster substance on his hand wraps before entering the ring against Shane Mosley.

Mosley knocked him out in the ninth round and many fans wondered out loud if Margarito had always been stuffing his gloves. The thought crossed Cotto’s mind too and he was eager to face the Mexican again to find out for himself. Since being caught, Margarito has taken some pretty vicious beatings in his three major fights, against Mosley, Pacquiao, and now Cotto. He said the fight against Cotto shouldn’t have been stopped by the doctor, especially since he came on strong and ended it in the later rounds in their first meeting.

Margarito does have a point, but the fight could have been stopped even earlier due to his swollen eye, which was damaged in the third round. With the win, the 31-year-old Cotto retains his WBA Super Welterweight Championship and improves his record to 37-2 with 30 KOs. The 33-year-old Margarito falls to 38-8 with 27 KOs.

Margarito kept coming forward throughout the fight, which made it dramatic and exciting, but Cotto was just too determined to prove that the result of their first bout could have been the result of illegal hand wraps. Now that they’re 1-1, the best way to solve the controversial endings in both fights would be to have a third bout. However, Margarito may have to take a few months off for his eye to heal and he may have a hard time getting licensed in some states.