Vitali Klitschko: record, next fight and profile →
Bernd Boente, the manager of heavyweight champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, reached out to BoxingScene.com to respond to an earlier story, where Adam Booth, manager of David Haye, claimed Vitali was unwilling to face Haye in September.
Vitali Klitschko's manager claims David Haye dodged a fight against the Ukrainian as he was too scared to take him on. Haye came out of retirement this month when he announced a controversial grudge match against fellow Londoner Dereck Chisora that will take place at Upton Park on July 14. The fight, which has had to be sanctioned by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation as neither fighter holds a British licence, has been widely condemned within the sport. The German Boxing Federation today denounced the bout and the World Boxing Council have vowed to "expel" anyone from its organisation who is involved in the contest.
Polish heavyweight giant Mariusz Wach (27-0, 15KOs) was scheduled to return in the month of July, but the card was canceled. According to Wach, he is being considered for a potential fight with WBC champion Vitali Klitschko (44-2, 40KOs) in the fall. Wach, standing at over 6'7, stopped his last seven opponents by knockout. Wach doesn't know if the fight with Vitali is possible for this year or 2012.
WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (44-2, 40KOs) has said that he intends to finish his boxing career soon. Vitali and his brother Wladimir Klitschko currently hold every major boxing title at the weight. Wladimir is the WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO world heavyweight champion.
Wladimir Klitschko's manager Bernd Boente has effectively dismissed the chances of David Haye or Dereck Chisora forcing world title rematches after their controversial heavyweight fight in July, a fight which the Ukrainian has dismissed as a "freak show".
Veteran coach Roger Bloodworth is training Tomasz Adamek (45-2, 28 KOs) for his scheduled clash with Eddie Chambers (36-2, 18 KOs), set for June 16th in Newark, New Jersey. Last September Adamek took a beating before being stopped in the tenth round of his challenge of WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.
Former four time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield (44-10-2, 29 KOs) was ringside in Donetsk to watch Paulie Malinaggi (31-4, 7 KOs) win the WBA welterweight title with a ninth round stoppage of Vyacheslav Senchenko (32-1, 21 KOs).
Promoter Ahmet Oner of Arena Box will push for his boxer, heavyweight Odlanier Solis (17-1, 12KOs), to become the mandatory challenger to one of the Klitschko brothers within twelve months. In March of 2011, Solis was stopped in the first round after badly injuring his knee in a title fight with WBC champion Vitali Klitschko. Solis finally comes back, after months of rehab, on May 19th against Konstantin Airich in Pharr, Texas. He hopes to get a rematch with Vitali very soon.
Last Friday evening in Cologne, Russian heavyweight Denis Boytsov (31-0, 25 KOs) won a hard-fought unanimous decision over American veteran Dominick Guinn. Veteran trainer Fritz Sdunek was at ringside, as he was working the corner of the main event superstar, Felix Sturm. Sdunek also trains the man Boytsov would love to fight, WBC champion Vitali Klitschko. At this moment, the veteran coach doesn't give Boytsov any chance to beat Vitali or younger brother Wladimir Klitschko.
Former long-time WBO lightweight champion, and one of the icons of the post-Soviet boxing scene, Artur Grigoryan, is now training heavyweight contender Denis Boytsov (31-0, 25 KOs), who recently dominated American veteran Dominic Guinn (33-9-1, 22 KOs) over ten rounds in Cologne. Grigoryan shared his thoughts with the German press about Boytsov (WBC #2, WBO #3, WBA #4 and IBF #5) and a possible future challenge to one of the Klitschko brothers.