Vitali Klitschko made a successful defence of his WBO heavyweight title tonight after a cut to Manuel Charr's eye caused the referee to stop the bout in four rounds.

German challenger Charr was forced to defend while it lasted, and crashed to the canvas in the second round.

Klitschko continued to press the action and opened up the cut that would ultimately end the contest with a flush left hook.

Blood immediately poured from Charr's right eye and the doctor had little hesitation in bringing the fight to an abrupt end, much to the contender's visible disgust.

The 41-year-old champion improved his record to 45-2 in what is thought to be his last ring appearance before the Ukrainian makes a full-time move into politics in his home country.