Klitschko batters Brewster

COLOGNE, Germany – Wladimir Klitschko made up for one of the most painful losses of his career.

The Ukrainian heavyweight battered Lamon Brewster and scored a technical knockout after the sixth round Saturday to successfully defend his IBF and IBO titles.

“I have waited for this fight for three years,” Klitschko said. “This was incredibly important for me. Today I could not lose.”

Klitschko dominated the first five rounds, making repeated contact with his strong left jab that largely went unanswered.

Brewster seemed to be standing up to the constant punishment, but two massive left-right combinations in the sixth round rocked the American. Before the seventh could start, Brewster’s trainer, Buddy McGirt, flapped his towel and referee Sam Williams called the fight.

Seeing Klitschko gaining momentum and his own fighter rooted to the spot, McGirt told Brewster after the fifth round he was thinking of retiring him. But he gave Brewster one last chance to turn the bout around.

“You could see Wladimir was picking it up. I knew he’d set him up for the kill,” McGirt said. “I gave him one more round, but I told him I didn’t want to see him get hurt. Wladimir was getting more confident so why take a chance with his life?”

Brewster would have continued, but placed his faith in his coach’s decision.

“Buddy said, ‘You’ve got a wife and kids, we can always pick this up another day.’ So I said OK,” Brewster said.

When the two met in 2004, Brewster stopped Klitschko with a fifth-round TKO to win the vacant WBO title in Las Vegas.

Klitschko’s record is 49-3, with 44 knockouts, while Brewster is 33-4 with 29 KOs.