\tHeavyweight 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.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe 37-yer-old Klitschko has won his last 17 bouts with his last defeat coming back in 2004. He\u2019s stopped seven of his last nine opponents and owns an excellent knockout percentage of 81 per cent for his career. Klitschko\u2019s strengths are his size, conditioning, heavy right hand, mobility, and stinging left jab. He\u2019s also got tons of experience with 157 rounds of world championship boxing under his belt. This will be Pianeta\u2019s first shot at a world title.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn addition, Klitschko is a very skilled boxer. He\u2019s 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\u2019s chin and ability to take a shot. He may have had a questionable chin earlier in his career, but hasn\u2019t really shown any signs of having one lately. However, it\u2019s arguable that he\u2019s taken on any elite, heavy-hitting heavyweights\u2026as there aren\u2019t many of them around these days.<\/p>\n
\n\tThere\u2019s 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\u2019s going to be impossible to beat the champion by throwing and connecting on so few punches every round unless you can knock him out.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe 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\u2019s opponents, he\u2019s another European heavyweight with a good record, but not much else. He\u2019s beaten a few name fighters and former world champions in Oliver McCall and Frans Botha, but they\u2019re well past their primes. He doesn\u2019t seem to have the power to stop somebody like Klitschko and five of his last seven opponents have taken him the distance.<\/p>\n
\n\tPianeta isn\u2019t too bad defensively and he can move around the ring pretty well for a big fellow. He\u2019s also a southpaw and that could take the champion a round or two to figure out. It\u2019s quite possible that Pianeta is just here to survive and won\u2019t be taking any chances. The WBA has him ranked at number 12 and the WBO lists him as their number seven contender.<\/p>\n
\n\tTo beat Klitschko, Pianeta\u2019s 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\u2019s probably his best bet<\/a> here. Anybody can get decked by another boxer, especially one as big as Pianeta, but it\u2019s doubtful it will happen here. Look for the champion to retain his belts by decision or late stoppage.<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/cdn.feedcrossing.com\/1x.gif?o=fxing_o1_1lpu_4rrp_0_\")
<\/div>\n