V. Klitschko wants Maskaev-Peter Winner Next
By James Blears
World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman says tha former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, who recently suffered a back injury, has told him that he wants to fight the winner of the upcoming bout between WBC champion Oleg Maskaev and mandatory Samuel Peter, scheduled for Oct. 6 in New York's Madison Square Garden.
Don Jose explained that Vitali Kilischko phoned him and said that after he recovers from back surgery, he preferred to fight directly for the title at the beginning of the year.
Don Jose said that the fight against Jameel McCline fight has been cancelled, and that:
“Vitali wants to prove to himself and his people that he can become the champion of the world again and he’s totally decided to do that. But we are going to request from him a total and complete bill of health after his surgery, because we don’t want to be subject to continuous postponements, which are not good for boxing.”
Vitali has struggled with injuries. His intended title fight against Hasim Rahman in 2005, had to be called off three times because of back and then a knee injury.
But Don Jose countered: “Really I believe that boxing needs him. Vitali is very attractive for the world and I hope that he will be back.”