Former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko had some incredible performances over his lengthy career.
Even in Klitschko’s epic loss to Anthony Joshua, the Ukrainian always showed his elite talent that allowed him to become one of the greatest fighters of the 21st century.
Retiring in 2017, ‘Dr. Steelhammer’ left fans with plenty of wonderful memories inside of the ring. However, in one of the former champion’s best performances, he dismantled a fellow heavyweight king.
Wladimir Klitschko dominated Ray Mercer in 2002
In June 2002, Klitschko would welcome a world title challenge from former champion, Ray Mercer.
Klitschko was the holder of the WBO World Heavyweight title and was looking to make a fourth defense of the belt. At the time, Klitschko had an impressive 38-1 record.
As for Mercer, he was looking to get his hands back on the title. ‘Merciless’ was the WBO World Heavyweight champion in 1991, with wins over Francesco Damiani to get the belt, and Tommy Morrison to retain it.
However, despite his previous accolades, the fight between Mercer and Klitschko was not a competitive one.
Controlling the fight from the very start with his snapping jab, Klitschko would put down Mercer in the final 30 seconds of round one. It was only the second time the former champion had been put down in his career.
Mercer would struggle throughout the bout, as a 26-year-old Klitschko pulverized his opponent through five rounds. Then, in the sixth round, the Ukrainian would put an exclamation mark on his performance.
As Mercer was taking blow after blow, he was deemed unfit to continue by the referee, as Klitschko won a standing TKO victory.
Wladimir Klitschko would drop world title in shock 2003 loss
Despite having such an impressive performance against Mercer in 2002, Klitschko would drop his heavyweight title the following year.
In March 2003, Klitschko would be challenged by Corrie Sanders (38-2) for his WBO World Heavyweight title.
Many expected it to be a rather straightforward title defense for Klitschko. However, that was not the case.
Klitschko suffered a second-round TKO loss to Sanders, seeing him drop his world title for the first time. However, Vitali Klitschko, brother of Wladimir, would avenge the loss as he defeated Sanders the following year.