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By Mark Vester
After WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev pulled out of his Oct. 6 title defense against mandatory Samuel Peter (28-1, 22 KOs), scheduled to take place at New York's Madison Square Garden, dozens of heavyweight began throwing their names in a hat to face Peter in a WBC interim title bout.
The most unlikely of challengers, Andrew Golota (39-6-1, 32 KOs), is close to landing the open slot to face Peter on the Showtime televised event. Golota has challenged for the heavyweight title on four occasions and went 0-3-1, two of them being first round knockout losses to Lennox Lewis and Lamon Brewster.
Peter's manager Ivaylo Gotzev told boxing scribe Dan Rafael that a deal has been struck to face Golota. All that awaits is approval from the WBC to sanction the fight and whether or not Showtime decides to buy the fight, and for how much. There is also a question as to whether or not MSG will move forward with a card that was struggling to sell tickets, even with Maskaev on board.
"The deal is done. All it's pending is WBC approval," Gotzev said. "It comes down to the WBC and if they are going to sanction it."
It should be noted that Golota is unranked by the sanctioning body, and several other fighters like Oliver McCall, ranked third, are willing to face Peter on the card. Golota is currently scheduled to face Kevin McBride on the undercard.
There is also a slight chance that Jameel McCline (38-7-3, 23 KOs) lands the fight. McCline is scheduled to fight on the same undercard against DaVarryl Williamson.
Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingscene@hotmail.com
