The well-known brand 'Klitschko Brothers', which had long been led to worldwide recognition, could collapse. The brothers would not have been forgiven for two consecutive defeats. Especially since Corrie Sanders became the world champion according to the WBO version, having defeated Vladimir in March of last year. One can imagine what resonance a victory of the South American over Vitali as well would have caused...
But the senior representative of the glorious surname did not let anyone down. He conducted the fight competently and gave his opponent no chances. True, there was a moment when the heart skipped a beat: Vitali slipped on the ring and sat down. But he easily got up and confidently continued the fight.
Sanders's chance in the fight against the younger, more mobile and more technical Klitschko lay in a strong punch, which in this case became extremely dangerous since the South African is a left-hander. And in the first round Corrie even hit Vitali once, but did not achieve the desired effect. The Ukrainian boxer had done good preparation for the match. And he worked not only on his physical condition but also on tactical aspects. Specialists assumed that in the first rounds Vitali would deal with Sanders's 'left' problem, and then, having adapted to his technical nuances, would begin to attack. That is exactly what happened.
In the first two rounds, Klitschko carefully and unobtrusively made it clear that he knew no less about Sanders than Sanders himself. Our boxer's superiority was obvious. Vitali kept his opponent at a distance, using his long arms and reducing the risk of missing a lucky punch that could decide the fate of the match. The tactics were correct. Sanders is a man of age; after winning the champion title he had not fought a single bout, and he began his preparation for the fight with Klitschko rather late.
Unsurprisingly, Corrie, who had not previously been distinguished by particular endurance, quickly tired, while Vitali did not try to force events and patiently waited until the South African's strength was completely exhausted in order to take the opponent with his bare hands. Already in the fourth round Sanders moved with great difficulty, did not raise his hands high enough when defending his head, and took blows that he could have avoided with different physical readiness.
In the fifth round, only the gong saved Sanders. The break helped the South African, who showed himself to be a tenacious fighter, to pull himself together a little and delay the moment of defeat. In the eighth round, when Vitali, probably tired of landing punches, was striking almost unhindered, the referee decided to stop the beating. Vitali Klitschko finally achieved his goal - he became the world champion in one of the most respected versions in the world.