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Klitschko unifies heavyweight titles

  • Story Highlights
  • Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko wins his second world heavyweight title belt
  • Klitschko defeats previously unbeaten Sultan Ibragimov on points in New York
  • The victory means Klitschko adds the WBO title to the IBF belt he already had
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NEW YORK -- International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko seized the World Boxing Organization belt on Saturday with a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden.

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Wladimir Klitschko parades both heavyweight belts after his laboured points victory over Sultan Ibragimov

The 31-year-old Ukrainian improved to 50-3-3 with 44 knockouts as he jabbed his way to a clear if unspectacular victory.

It was the first unification contest in the crowded heavyweight division since 1999, when Briton Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield.

The judges at ringside scored the bout 119-110, 117-111 and 118-110 for Klitschko, as Ibragimov fell to 22-1-1, with 17 knockouts.

Klitschko may have emerged with the victory and a second championship belt, but his solid defense against the Russian southpaw failed to impress the crowd of 14,011.

Sporadic jeers punctuated the leaden early rounds as Klitschko relied on his height advantage and his jab and seemed reluctant to unleash his powerful right hand.

Klitschko did land a big right to Ibragimov's head, and Ibragimov responded with a left to Klitschko's ribs as the action heated up a bit in the seventh.

Klitschko hurt Ibragimov again with a right in the eighth, and he followed up with another. Ibragimov went down, but it was ruled due to a push and not a knockdown.

Klitschko knocked Ibragimov into the ropes with a series of combinations in the ninth, but again Ibragimov escaped the knockdown.

Klitschko said he did not want to risk throwing his right more and missing. "I had to make sure I would land them," he said. "If I would miss I would lose the balance and it's hard to get back."

Klitschko was making the fourth defense of the title he won from Chris Byrd in April 2006. His victory was a step toward unifying the fractured division, in which unbeaten Ruslan Chagaev of Uzbekhistan holds the World Boxing Association title and Oleg Maskaev, a Kazak-born Russian-American, owns the World Boxing Council crown.

"I thought I was going to knock this guy out -- it wasn't easy," Klitschko said. "I know you're not satisfied, but I have to keep the belts and knock everybody else out." E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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