Wladimir Klitschko was delighted at marking his return to Hamburg with victory over Tony Thompson.
Champ praises challenger for tough fight
Wladimir Klitschko was delighted at marking his return to Hamburg with victory over Tony Thompson.
The Ukrainian returned to the city where his professional career began and left after retaining his IBF and WBO heavyweight titles with an 11th round knockout.
Klitschko dropped the American challenger with a vicious right to the chin after one minute 38 seconds of the penultimate round in Germany.
"It was a tough fight and Thompson put on a great defensive effort," he said.
"As the world champion it is my task to defend the titles and I am glad I won clearly and by KO today.
"It is not so easy to defend all the titles and it has been a while since I last had a black eye so today I really look like a boxer.
Support
"It was great to be back in Hamburg where I made my first professional fight. I want to thank everyone for their great support. The city is like my second home."
Klitschko had trouble utilising his left jab but relied on his strong right hand, which constantly inflicted damage, to please his home fans.
Yet he admitted the win had been more difficult than anticipated.
"I did not expect the victory to come that hard," he added.
"You could see that he really wanted to win. He is a strong fighter. It was a lot of fun to fight against him."
Thompson, whose face was also cut, tipped his hat to his opponent.
"Wladimir is a great champion," he said. "I am strong but he was stronger today. He caught me with a perfect shot. I did not see it coming.
"I am very disappointed because I am not the heavyweight champion of the world but today Klitschko was the better fighter.
"He was very well prepared. At the end I got tired. I don't know why. It happens and I have to accept it."
Thompson claimed that neither an accidental clash of heads in the second round, which left both fighters cut, nor a hard fall following a clinch at the end of the 10th round impacted the outcome.
"It did cause some discomfort but that was not the reason why I lost today," he said. "Wladimir was the better fighter. He just caught me."
