Coin Toss decided it

Ray Austin wore Grant Gloves

 

THE brand of boxing gloves made no difference. Wladimir Klitschko’s fists in Grant gloves battered Ray Austin (in Grants) to the canvas for a tko 2 win in Mannheim. “Austin was slower than my sparring partner,” boasted the Ukrainian, retaining his IBF heavyweight championshiup.

Wladimir would have found different if he’d faced Ray Austin’s sparring partner, Kali Meehan. Or Kali’s friend and equal, Lamon Brewster, who made Wladimir quit as WBO champ in ’04.

The Klitschko camp had a change of heart on fight morning and agreed to a coin toss to solve the problem.

It was already set that Klitschko was to use Grant gloves. The coin toss would only determine if Austin wore Klitschko’s preferred Grant gloves, or the “Reyesman’s” choice, Reyes gloves.

The IBF announced that Eddie Cotton will referee the Klitschko v. Austin main event. The judges were Roy Francis from the United Kingdom; Steve Weisfeld from New Jersey; and John Wright from Sydney, Australia.