By Ruslan Chikov
A lot has been discussed in relation to a possible fight between WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko and the "Russian Giant," seven-foot Nikolai Valuev. They tried to reach a deal several times in 2010. Every single time they couldn't fully agree on the financial terms. Vitali will now defend his title against Shannon Briggs on October 16.
The man who doesn't have an opponent scheduled at the present is the other brother, WBO/IBO/IBF heavyweight champion Wladmir Klitschko, who has a tentative return date being plugged for December 11. A lot of the focus has been on Vitali fighting Valuev, but not a lot of experts have examined a possible clash between Wladimir and Valuev.
Russian reporter Alexander Pavlov spoke with Wladimir's trainer, Emanuel Steward, to get his thoughts on a potential fight between Wladimir and Valuev for the month of December. Valuev had recent shoulder surgery and is currently recovering, so a December battle may not give Valuev enough time to heal and properly train for such a contest.
"I think that the fans around the world would like to see Valuev fight against one of the Klitschko brothers, because the Klitschkos constantly have an advantage in height, and the audience would be interested to see how they will perform against a taller opponent," Steward said.
"When Vitali fought against Lennox Lewis (Steward trained Lewis at the time), they were about the same height. Lewis worked on defense, keeping a distance, and Vitali attacked him, and [Lennox] was not used to working against the tall guys. So either of the Klitschko brothers fighting Valuev would be quite different because he's different than against any other opponent."
Steward would have to prepare Wladimir for what he expects to be a tough fight. Even finding sparring partners will be hard. He says Wladimir would have to use a new strategy for someone like Valuev.
"It would be hard to find sparring partners. When I was preparing Lewis for his fight with Vitali, I had a problem finding guys for sparring. The only one who came close was Wladimir. But as you know, it wasn't possible to get him.
"If you look at what Wladimir does at the present, it's not a fact that his tactics would be effective in a fight with a taller man. Therefore, in a fight with Valuev he would have been more inventive, he would have to be more aggressive, and he would have to fight him within a closer range."
