Wladimir Klitschko vs Axel Schulz

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Klitschko wins Euro heavyweight title Associated Press COLOGNE, Germany -- Vladimir Klitschko beat up Axel Schulz for eight one-sided rounds Saturday night to gain the vacant European heavyweight championship. The 6-foot-8 Ukrainian dealt Schulz fierce punishment throughout the fight and had the German dangling helplessly on the ropes when the bout was stopped with 18 seconds left in the eighth round. Klitschko, the 1996 Olympic super heavyweight champion, caught Schulz with a straight left earlier in the eighth, sending him to the canvas for the first time in his career. Klitschko's record improved to 29-1 with 27 knockouts. Schulz, whose record dropped to 26-4-1 with one no-contest, didn't win a round and he didn't protest at having the fight stopped. "It didn't make any sense anymore," Schulz said. "He had already hit me hard the last couple of rounds." The 30-year-old Schulz had turned in credible performances in losing title bouts to George Foreman, Michael Moorer and Frans Botha. But the 23-year-old Klitschko, the younger brother of WBO champion Vitali Klitschko, dissected Schulz from the opening seconds of the fight with a left jab that visibly snapped his head back. A game Schulz, who took one shot after another, had the 18,500 spectators roaring by coming back slugging every time the taller Klitschko sent him into the ropes with hard combinations. Klitschko, however, was so dominant the only drama was to see how much punishment Schulz could absorb or if he would be seriously hurt.