Ray Austin v Wladimir Klitschko
Ray Austin v Wladimir Klitschko
The Ukrainian champion stunned his opponent with three strong left hooks to the head which sent him to the canvas.
The mandatory challenger scrambled back to his feet but still was counted out by the referee one minute and 27 seconds into the round.
Klitschko, who improved to 48-3 (42 KOs), said: “I have prepared hard. He was a mandatory challenger. I am happy about the win. I hope the crowd is happy, too. It was short but it was heavyweight boxing.”
Klitschko controlled the centre of the ring in the first round and, when he made the first impact in the second, the bout was already over.
Austin drops to 24-4 (16 KOs).
Klitschko put his victory down to hard work in training.
He said: “I was surprised he was so slow but he was dangerous.
“I have seen many of his fights when he has come out and won with first-round knockouts.”
And the Ukrainian revealed it was trash-talking from Austin and his promoter Don King that had helped motivate him.
He continued: “I prepared very hard for this fight and did 120 rounds of sparring with different sparring partners and I was very motivated by the comments made by Ray Austin and his promoter Don King before the fight.
“I was surprised he got back to his feet and the referee was right to stop it because he could not continue any more.
“As for the next fight for me, I would like Nikolay Valuev.”
