WBC heavyweight titleholder Vitali Klitschko improved to 37-2 with his 36th knockout, stopping Juan Carlos Gomez in the ninth round of their fight in Stuggart, Germany.

The fight, fed to U.S. audiences through ESPN Classic with Brian Kenny and Teddy Atlas doing commentary from a studio in Connecticut, was almost as ugly as they come at the top levels of today's still-deplorable heavyweight scene. 37-year old Klitschko was nearly immobile for the entire fight, leading me to think that his bad back might be coming back to haunt him. Gomez, at 35, wasn't much better. He did almost nothing right and was eventually hammered down by enough slow, awkward-looking rights that he could take no more.

Klitschko looked about 80% worse in this fight than he did in his return last October against Samuel Peter, when he destroyed the younger man and beat the will out of him. That night Klitschko was sharp, focused, and about as agile as you could expect an aging fighter with a bad back and a lot of rust to be. This time out, though, he was downright brutal to watch. He was sloppy, he was slow, and he looked uncomfortable.

Luckily, Gomez (44-2, 35 KO) came only to paw his lead right hand and try to stink out the joint. He got inside easily on the taller Klitschko, but once there did nothing. Gomez talked a big game in the build-up for this one about how he wouldn't just stand there and get hit. That's pretty much exactly what he did do once Vitali loosened up enough to hit him. It's not like it was the blinding speed of Klitschko that made the difference. It was pure, raw power, and not in the exciting and sudden prime Mike Tyson way. More in the "I'm really tall and really strong, so hitting you will hurt, even if it's this slow" sort of way.

As for "almost as ugly" -- well, it still beat his brother Wladimir's pathetic display against Sultan Ibragimov last February, or the excruciating Valuev-Holyfield fight from December. That's about the best I can really say.

Klitschko will either fight an optional opponent (his preference) or current mandatory Oleg Maskaev next. If there's any fight I'm itching to see after today, it's definitely 37-year old Vitali Klitschko and 40-year old Oleg Maskaev matching up. Boy howdy. What a barnburner that one promises to be. Thank you, WBC.

Pre-fight notes:

• Klitschko-Gomez starts at 6pm ET on ESPN Classic. March Badness starts at 9pm on PPV.
  
• I listed all of Sheika's defeats because I couldn't pick the three most notable, and also to further say, "Hey, this guy's never beaten anyone, and has lost to every good fighter he ever faced besides a majority decision against Glen Johnson." He also lost to Tony Booth, who was 28-44-7 going into the fight.
  
• Herrera's other two losses were also stoppages. So he's 16-5 with 16 wins by knockout and five losses by knockout. He's like Alejandro Berrio II.

via d.yimg.com

It's a pickin' time of year. I'm currently enjoying the hell out of the start of March Madness and hope everyone else is, too, but there's fights to be decided this weekend as well.

Vitali Klitschko v. Juan Carlos Gomez (ESPN, Heavyweights, 12 rounds - Klitschko's WBC title on the line)

This is the real test of whether or not Vitali is "back," I think. I picked Vitali to beat Peter and though I didn't expect he'd totally overwhelm him, that's what we got. We saw Vitali against a fighter easy for him to hit, a guy that couldn't move, couldn't get inside of his piston-like jab, and just couldn't do anything with the tall, disciplined Klitschko. Sam gave Wlad a hard run a few years ago, but did nothing with Vitali, who may still be a better fighter than Wladimir is.

Gomez (44-1, 35 KO) has waited impatiently and is talking big. These two are familiar with one another from way back. Gomez is not a big hitter, but he's got some pop, he's got style, and he's a really confident guy. Vitali will have to hammer on him pretty hard to get him to go away.

I can't pick against Klitschko, but I'll say this: A Gomez win would not shock me in the least. Vitali's bill of health will never truly be clean ever again. His back problems could haunt him in any given fight.

The winner of this one likely faces 40-year old Oleg Maskave, though Vitali wants to take an optional fight between the two mandatories. I still think he's right to want that and to feel he deserves it. He just better not get totally ahead of himself. Klitschko UD-12

Roy Jones Jr. v. Omar Sheika (PPV, Light Heavyweights, 12 Rounds)

Roy's 40. Anything can happen when a guy's 40, and Sheika hits harder than Joe Calzaghe, who beat Roy up last November worse than anyone besides Glen Johnson ever has.

But Roy is not going to lose to Sheika, who hasn't fought since September 2007, and that is his only fight since September 2005. Sheika is a pawn in Roy's B.S. game, where he loses big to someone good and F's off back to the C-show circuit to grab some wins, hoping to fool people into thinking he'll ever be Roy Jones again. He will wipe the mat with Sheika, who is nothing more than a speed bump. Talent is talent and neither of these guys are near their best at this point. 70% of Jones is a lot better than 75% of Omar Sheika, if Sheika even has that left. This is a payday for Omar and a chance to knock out a legend if he can find that punch. Jones TKO-10

BJ Flores v. Jose Luis Herrera (PPV, Cruiserweights, 10 Rounds)

Flores will leave his schedule of ducking out of big fights and fighting fat amateurs to take a chance against Herrera, who has ended all 16 of his victories by way of knockout, and has been knocked out in every one of his five losses. Herrera is live here. Flores isn't a very big puncher, although he's not feather-fisted, either. BJ doesn't care about making an attractive fight either; recall the way he completely and easily avoided Darnell Wilson on ESPN2. I hope Herrera knocks him out. I really do. Flores UD-10

Dan Rafael's latest blog has some big updates on the Hatton-Pacquiao PPV undercard on May 2, and there's some interesting stuff.

• Steven Luevano will still defend his 126-pound title against Bernabe Concepcion. That's not changing. That's the "feature" undercard bout.
• James Kirkland will be on, likely against Michael "Midnight Stalker" Walker (19-1-2, 12 KO). Walker has fought at middleweight and super middleweight. Kirkland may also get a title shot against Sergiy Dzinziruk on a June 27 Boxing After Dark card, which could also feature Victor Ortiz getting a title shot at Andriy Kotelnik. A third fight on the card: a Chris John-Rocky Juarez rematch. That's a hell of an interesting card. Bring it on.
  
• Top Rank wanted Mike Alvarado against Lucas Matthysse, the brother of the guy Kermit Cintron memorably waxed on the Gatti-Gomez card in 2007. That's not happening.
• Instead, a couple of four-rounders featuring top prospects will be on the show. Right now it looks like Top Rank will showcase Matvey Korobov and Golden Boy will present one of my current favorites, Erislandy Lara.

It's a decent card, considering the main event is absolutely cannot miss if you have any interest in boxing and not only is a huge commercial fight, but a legitimate potential Fight of the Year candidate. Lara and Korobov are both excellent prospects and putting them on this card will introduce them to people that otherwise legitimately may never see them. Lara in particular is thrilling. Kirkland is always entertaining, and Luevano is a Pacquiao undercard staple in what should be a decent fight, and could be better. Luevano can be pushed into very entertaining fights (think Mario Santiago).

Also: on the March 21 card in Germany, Chris Byrd will fight an eight-round cruiserweight bout, and Tony Thompson will also be in action. Neither will be on ESPN. Both have helped Vitali Klitschko in training for his main event fight with Juan Carlos Gomez.

Two-time heavyweight titlist Chris Byrd is staying busy, helping former foe Vitali Klitschko train for Klitschko's upcoming defense against Juan Carlos Gomez, and also planning an in-ring return at cruiserweight sometime in the future.

Byrd beat Vitali in 2000 when Klitschko was forced to retire after nine rounds due to a shoulder injury suffered in the second round. The fact that Vitali boxed with basically one good arm for the majority of the bout made the official scorecards pretty remarkable. Klitschko was leading on all three by healthy margins at the time of stoppage (88-83, 88-83, 89-82).

A little over four years ago, Byrd called Vitali Klitschko "a joke" when Vitali beat but failed to knock out Danny Williams. Byrd, likely still sore at the time because nobody thought his win over Vitali was anything more than a fluke, has apparently changed his tune enough to help Vitali out. And he's a fine sparring partner choice, since Gomez is a slick southpaw like Byrd. American Tony Thompson (another lefty) is also in camp.

As for Byrd potentially returning as a cruiser? I don't like to be down on fighters, but I don't see the point. Chris is 38 years old and the glory days are gone, period. It doesn't matter what weight he fights at. He's lost three of his last four fights, all convincingly, and his only win since 2005 has come against professional opponent Paul Marinaccio.

Wladimir Klitschko destroyed Byrd for the second time in 2006, then he beat Marinaccio, and after that was knocked out by Alexander Povetkin and then Shaun George in a misguided attempt to drop a full 40 pounds and go to light heavyweight. At 175, Byrd looked so flat that everyone watching the fight was pretty certain that was the end of his career. It probably should be. George (who switched promoters and hasn't fought since that May win) is not only not a top 175-pound fighter, he's just not all that good. He will be fighting 40-year old power puncher Jaffa Ballougou on February 25 according to the listings at BoxRec.com, and if he gets knocked out I won't be shocked. Or surprised, even.

Cruiserweight has a lot of really talented fighters that I think will just pick the aged Byrd's bones. After his latest run of fights, I don't think there's a single "top" cruiser I'd pick Byrd to defeat.

From a presser in Stuggart, Germany:

Vitali Klitschko: "You are difficult to send to the floor, but I'll manage it."

Juan Carlos Gomez: "You talk too much."

Awesome translating: