By Rick Reeno

Undefeated Dmitriy Salita (28-0, 16KOs) made contact with BoxingScene.com to respond to a recent news brief regarding the WBA junior welterweight champion Andriy Kotelnik (30-2, 13KOs). Several days ago, it as being reported by Square Ring that Kotelnik withdrew from his bout with Salita. The fight was the scheduled take place on November 8 on HBO pay-per-view as the co-feature to Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones Jr, at New York's Madison Square Garden. Kotelnik's camp claimed a rib injury suffered during the September 13 title defense against Norio Kimura.

Kotelnik would speak with BoxingScene's Alexey Potapov on Saturday, indicating that Square Ring jumped the gun by announcing that he withdrew from the fight. He never made a final decision to withdraw from the fight because a full medical examination has yet to take place.

"Yes, I've had problems with an injury, but it's too early to say that a fight against Salita will not take place. On Wednesday I will have a full medical examination which is going to show the condition of the injury," Kotelnik said.

Salita hopes Kotelnik's doctor will give him the green light. He doesn't want a replacement, he wants to fight Kotelnik for the title.

"The fight is basically a done deal. All I'm waiting for is a 'yes' from Kotelnik. I just hope that he's healthy and we can make this fight happen. The fans can be part of a historic event and we can make history ourselves," Salita said.

Willie Limond (29-2, 8KOs) of the UK has been signed as the sub. The fight would be shelved if Kotelnik is cleared to fight.

"They have Willie Limond signed for the fight. If Kotelnik says yes, the he will step to the side. From what I was told the fight [with Kotelnik] was pretty much a done deal up until a few days ago. I hope that the fight will become a reality," Salita said. "There is great interest for the fight here, and in Russia and Ukraine. It's already a great event with Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones Jr."