Klitschko to disprove glass-jaw theory

BERLIN - World champion Wladimir Klitschko may suffer from a lack of genuine heavyweight challengers, but he plans to prove his jaw is not made of glass by knocking out France's Jean-Marc Mormeck on Saturday.

World champion Klitschko defends his IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA titles against Mormeck, who stepped up from cruiserweight just over two years ago, in Dusseldorf.

The pair were scheduled to meet last December, but kidney stones forced Klitschko to postpone the fight which will be the 60th of his career and he wants to make Mormeck his 50th knock-out.

Likewise, the Frenchman is planning to become his country's first world heavyweight champion and to test the strength of the champion's jaw.

"Klitschko has something that I want and I need to smash his face in order to get it," said the 39-year-old Mormeck.

"I know that he is not happy getting hit. I've already said it and mean it - he has a glass jaw."

The 35-year-old world champion has not been beaten since April 2004 when he suffered a fifth-round technical knockout to Lamon Brewster.

Elder brother Vitali, the WBC champion, holds the only other title in the division and Klitschko makes no apologies for the Ukrainians dominating the division.

David Haye, from whom Wladimir took the WBA title in Hamburg last July, has branded the champion "a Ukrainian robot" and "a fraud" for taking only fights against perceived less able fighters.

But the Briton ignores the point Klitschko has beaten all obvious challengers and Klitschko refuses to apologize for making his so-called "easy" fights look one-sided.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 03/03/2012 page16)