Klitschko earns few new admirers after ho-hum heavyweight clash

NEW YORK (AP) Wladimir Klitschko still thinks he's the man to fix heavyweight boxing, yet his victory over Sultan Ibragimov was a prime example of why it's broken.

The monstrous Ukrainian champion took no chances and landed no memorable punches in his colorless unification victory, instead using his huge size advantages to strong-arm the WBO title belt from his smaller foe on an uninspiring Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Though there's little doubt Klitschko is the dominant fighter in a once-glamorous division, he wasted a chance to demonstrate just how dominant he could be — and his clinical dissection of Ibragimov provided the heavyweight haters with more ammunition for their criticism of the division's unimpressive recent history.

Lennox Lewis, the last unified champ, could barely feign excitement after the bout, even though HBO was paying him to do just that as a commentator.

When asked if Klitschko had proved his supremacy, Lewis suppressed a laugh.

"He proved he has a great left jab, and he's bigger than most opponents," said Lewis. "I can't say he's a great champion now. He's a great fighter now. A little more time, he could be a great champion."

Ibragimov seemed comically overmatched from the moment they stood toe-to-toe before the fight, with Klitschko towering over the roundish Russian. There's little doubt the 200-cm man is the heavyweight division's most impressive physical specimen, but he uses those advantages largely to bolster his defense, not to inflict pain on his opponents.