BERN, Switzerland – On a night of big-time boxing, Wladimir Klitschko stopped Tony Thompson in the sixth round in Bern to keep a comfortable hold on his WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight title belts Saturday and Nonito Donaire of the Philippines added Jeffrey Mathebula's International Boxing Federation super bantamweight title to his own World Boxing Organization belt with a 12-round unanimous decision in Los Angeles. Klitschko put Thompson on the canvas with a big right hand near the end of the fifth round at Stade de Suisse, and the 40-year-old American southpaw never recovered. The Ukrainian champion dropped Thompson again in the sixth, and referee Sam Williams gave the challenger a standing count before stopping the fight at 2:56. “Thompson was not so easy to box. I'm satisfied,” said the 36-year-old Klitschko, who improved his record to 58-3 (51 KO). Klitschko finished the fight five rounds sooner than when knocking out Thompson in the 11th of their first title fight in 2008. Thompson, who was the mandatory challenger nominated by the IBF, fell to 36-3 (24 KO). After the fight, Klitschko led the 22,000 crowd in signing “Happy Birthday” to his trainer Emanuel Steward, whose was 68 Saturday. “Tony Thompson is very hard to hit, “ Steward said. “Tony was watching Wladimir's right hand all night.” A cagey opening round was followed by a scrappy second, as Klitschko twice wrestled Thompson to the floor. Thompson briefly stepped up his cautious tactics when landing a left to Klitschko's face in the third. Klitschko finally landed a long, straight right in the fifth and the round ended with Thompson struggling on the ropes. The champion cornered Thompson toward the end of the sixth, and landed punches to the head though no single blow appeared to cause serious damage. “I got caught but I'm OK,” Thompson said in the ring. “He's strong and he's world heavyweight champion for a reason.” Klitschko extended the domination of the heavyweight ranks he shares with his elder brother Vitali. Vitali was in his brother's corner as usual, and acted as cheerleader in the third round. The elder Klitschko will defend his WBC title against Manuel Charr of Germany in Moscow on Sept. 8. Filipino star Donaire improved to 29-1 with 18 knockouts, winning his 28th straight fight in a streak dating back to 2001. He retained the WBO crown he won in February in a split decision over Puerto Rico's Wilfredo Vazquez. Donaire was the aggressor against his much taller opponent and dropped South African Mathebula with a devastating left late in the fourth round. It was the first time in his career that the 33-year-old Mathebula had been sent down. “He didn't expect it. Once he got hit with that, he was like everyone else,” Donaire said. “He kept his hands up the rest of the night.” Mathebula, making good use of his height and reach advantage, stayed active, his work rate keeping him in the contest even as Donaire landed the harder blows. In the 11th, Donaire landed a stinging right to Mathebula's jaw that cracked one of the South African's teeth. The ringside judges scored it 117-110, 118-109 and 119-108 in favor of Donaire. “He was a tough guy, I didn't expect him to be... He was faster than I thought,” said Donaire. “It was difficult to counter him with the right. If it would have been easy to counter him, it would've been an easy fight. He got me off that jab really well,” Donaire added. Mathebula fell to 26-4 with two drawn and 14 knockouts. He was making the first defence of the IBF title he won in March in South Africa with a split-decision triumph over compatriot Takalani Ndlovu. The bout was the first step in what Donaire hopes will be a unification march through the division. The World Boxing Association super bantamweight belt is held by Guillermo Rigondeaux, a 31-year-old Cuban who is 10-0 as a professional and won Olympic gold in 2000 and 2004. Mexico's Abner Mares owns the World Boxing Council super bantamweight crown but Donaire has voiced an interest in taking on the man Mares replaced as champion, Japan's Toshiaki Nishioka. Nishioka, a 35-year-old southpaw, is 39-4 with three drawn and has won 16 fights in a row since last losing in 2004 to Thai legend Veeraphol Sahaprom. Donaire said he would like to collect one more belt, then move up to 126 pounds.Sato defends title In Yokohama, Japan's Yota Sato defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight title beating Sylvester Lopez of the Philippines by a unanimous decision victory Sunday. The three judges counted it 118-110, 116-113, 119-109 all in favor of the defending champion. It was Sato's first defense of the title he wrested from Suriyan Sor Rungvisai of Thailand in March, improving his record to 25 wins, including 12 KOs, against two defeats and a draw. The 24-year-old Lopez saw his record reduced to 19 wins, including 15 KOs, against four defeats and a draw. — Agencies
