Wladimir Klitschko defended his IBF heavyweight crown by stopping Hasim Rahman in the seventh round at SAP Arena on Saturday .
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wladimir klitschko defend his ibf heavyweight crown stop hasim rahman seventh round sap arena saturday
Wladimir Klitschko defended his IBF heavyweight <m> crown </m> by stopping Hasim Rahman in the seventh round at SAP Arena on Saturday .
Wladimir Klitschko defended his IBF heavyweight <m> crown </m> by stopping Hasim Rahman in the seventh round at SAP Arena on Saturday .
Klitschko , who has not lost in more than four years , hit the shorter Rahman at will throughout , and after landing a left-right-left combination against the cornered American , the referee stepped in to end the contest. Rahman did n't appear upset .
Klitschko had knocked down Rahman in the previous round with successive left hooks .
The technical knockout in Klitchsko 's sixth defense of the IBF belt - and third this year - improved the Ukrainian-born fighter to 52-3 with 46 KOs .
Rahman , the two-time heavyweight champion who stepped in as a replacement opponent last month , struggled to get inside the taller Klitschko 's reach , and dropped to 45-7-2 .
The fighters started out fast and light on their feet , but it soon became apparent that Rahman was struggling to overcome the 3 1/2-inch height advantage enjoyed by the champion .
Rahman had to lean in drastically , and Klitschko easily fended off his punches .
Rahman did little more than lean on the ropes for a time and guard his face as Klitschko sought his opening .
Rahman looked reinvigorated in the fourth round , using his whole torso to make ambitious attacks , often connecting with Klitschko 's body .
But he rarely landed blows above Klitschko 's shoulders , and the consequences were clear when Klitschko dropped Rahman early in the sixth with two hard lefts to the side of his head .
Rahman got up but spent the remainder of the round in the corner , taking a sustained beating .
Another flurry at the opening of the seventh ended Rahman 's challenge .
Klitschko also retained the minor WBO and IBO belts .
Klitschko was originally scheduled to face Alexander Povetkin ( 16-0 ) , but the Russian pulled out with an ankle injury .
Rahman , who won the WBC and IBF belts from Lennox Lewis in 2001 and the vacant WBC belt in 2005 , arrived in Germany on Monday and declared he was in top shape .
On the undercard , former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe made a modest comeback with an eighth-round decision over Germany 's Gene Pukall .
It was just the third fight in a decade for the 41-year-old American and his first in three years .
Bowe ( 45-1 , 33 KOs ) had been training in Germany since September in an effort to get his stamina up and his weight down .
The work paid off in the ring , where he kept up with the 33-year-old Pukall ( 14-13-2 , 12KOs ) and bested him with a stream of careful head shots .