One left hand and Klitschko's reeling

The Ukrainian control freak continues to laugh it off and likes to make out he's not getting emotionally involved but I know it's all a facade. No man can withstand the kind of tricks I've been up to this week.

The latest rabbit plucked from my hat occurred yesterday, as Wladimir and I conducted open work-outs at a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Hamburg. It was a little set-up. We were surrounded by flash cars and pumped-up fans. I was due to step in the ring first, at around 1.30pm, and perhaps, to everybody's surprise, I was there and ready on time.

Now, typically, open work-outs are a bit of a damp squib. Nothing really happens and no great revelations can be plucked from them. A boxer steps into the ring, shadow-boxes for a few minutes and then goes through a few half-hearted sequences on the pads.

The onlookers like to think they are witnessing something ground-breaking and pivotal to the outcome of the upcoming fight but it all means nothing. We deliberately hold back and, by that time, don't need to be going all-out or revealing our best stuff. It's best to keep it bottled up for fight night.

Anyway, despite our experience of these situations, Wladimir and his trainer, Emanuel Steward, were clearly eager to see what shape I was in and what sort of moves I'd come up with.
Much to my surprise, the pair of them, along with big, bad brother Vitali and a heap of cronies, bowled up and sat down at ringside as I warmed up between the ropes. They were ready to cast their eye over the work of the future undisputed world heavyweight champion. I can't say I blame them.

Myself and trainer Adam Booth agreed beforehand that we would do very little in the ring but the presence of enemies curtailed our desire to entertain even further. All in all, it went something like this. I taped and wrapped my hands for around 20 minutes, shadow-boxed for five minutes and then hit one punch pad.

The sole punch - a left hand from my new southpaw stance - was greeted by applause and cheers from Team Hayemaker and, after taking the acclaim and performing a bow, I stepped out of the ring and left. A stunned Wladimir screamed at me to stick around and watch him work out but I already knew the game had been won.

This week has all been about control. Wladimir has tried to keep me on a leash and I have done everything in my power to break free and stand my ground. This represents the calm before the storm and the battle before the war. As things stand right now, I feel right on course to win both the
battle and the war.