Klitschko halts Gomez in ninth, keeps WBC heavyweight crown

STUTTGART, Germany – Vitali Klitschko retained his WBC heavyweight title with a ninth-round TKO of Juan Carlos Gomez on Saturday.

The 37-year-old Klitschko twice put down the Germany-based Cuban defector, in the seventh and ninth rounds, before Belgian referee Daniel Van de Wiele stopped the fight with 1 minute, 11 seconds remaining in the ninth round.

Klitschko (37-2, 36 KOs) was making the first defense of the title he reclaimed by stopping Samuel Peter in dominating fashion last October. The Ukrainian, whose brother Wladimir holds the IBF and WBO versions of the title, hasn’t lost since getting knocked out by Lennox Lewis in 2003.

The 35-year-old Gomez was the mandatory challenger and a former sparring partner of Klitschko’s. He was seeking to become the first world heavyweight champion from Cuba.

“I knew that he was a world-class boxer,” Klitschko said. “I said before that the fight would not be easy.”

At 6-foot-7 (2.02 meters), Klitschko had a size advantage of 3 1-2 inches (9 centimeters) and 19 pounds (9 kilos) over his southpaw opponent.

Gomez (44-2) joked afterward that he had not expected to last so long.

“I thought I gave Vitali a very hard fight but I realized it wasn’t enough,” Gomez said. “He was so tall and so heavy.”

Trainer Orlando Cuellar said it was his decision to send Gomez out for the ninth.

“I asked him, ‘Can you try for one more round?’ He was a very valiant fighter,” Cuellar said.

Gomez managed to frustrate the champion early, keeping his hands high to fend off jabs and moving in quickly before Klitschko could deliver powerful rights.

Klitschko landed his first big right midway through the second round, drawing a smile from Gomez, who showed he was capable of pushing the bigger man back when he landed his combinations.

The champion found success leading with his right in the fourth as he began to take control. Klitschko led on all three judges’ scorecards after four rounds, and opened a small cut on Gomez’s right eyebrow in the fifth.

A cut opened high on Klitchsko’s forehead in the sixth, and he was forced to backpedal to the ropes in the seventh.

But that effort seemed to tire the Cuban, who lowered his hands and provided a better target for Klitchsko.

Gomez put a knee to the canvas for a count of eight, and was pinned in his own corner after another big right. Gomez pulled both men to the ground before ending the round bravely defending in his corner.

Klitschko ended a quieter eighth round with another flurry and the end looked close. (AP)