Klitschko scores technical knock-out

Defending champion Vladimir Klitschko pounded Ray Mercer into submission on his way to a sixth-round technical knock-out win in their WBO heavyweight title fight on Saturday.

The Ukrainian easily retained his lightly-regarded title as he conntinued his march towards a championship showdown with Lennox Lewis, the best heavyweight in the world and holder of the WBA and IBF crowns.

"I think I can prove myself with a fight versus Lewis or (Evander) Holyfield or (Mike) Tyson," the 26-year-old Klitschko said after his win at the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino.

Klitschko knocked down the overmatched 41-year-old Mercer in the first round and kept him on his heels thereafter.

He hurt him with a straight right hand in the second round, opened a cut over his right eye in the fifth and pounded him relentlessly in the sixth.

"We don't want to look (at) how old he is," Klitschko said.

With the victory, Klitschko improved to 39-1 with 36 knockouts and the 1996 Olympic gold medallist has now stopped 14 of his last 15 opponents.

According to fight statistics, Mercer threw just 10 power punches and fell to 30-5-1.

Weighing 243 pounds and holding a 15-pound advantage, Klitchsko used a leading left hook to set the tone.

After an awesome five-punch combination, he threw a pair of left hooks in succession that dropped Mercer with 30 seconds left in the first round.

Mercer was listless throughout and appeared ready to quit in the sixth. He did not fight back for more than a minute before referee Randy Newman stepped in and stopped it at the 1:08 mark.