By Ruslan Chikov
WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is becoming convinced that Nikolai Valuev is doing his best to avoid his challenge. Klitschko made an off of $2.5 million dollars a few months ago, but Valuev turned the offer down. The "Russian Giant" requested a sum of $4 million dollars; an amount Klitschko called "unreasonable." A new offer has been made of $1.5 million dollars. Valuev has yet to accept.
"This is a fight that so many fans of the sport want to see. I made a proposal to Valuev, which he refused. Moreover, I gave him yet another proposal. I have a suspicion that Valuev does not want this fight. Every athlete is motivated. And the maximum amount of motivation can come by fighting the best in the world," Klitschko told Golzka.
"To achieve this, boxers train for years, and for years they have to wait for their turn. I offered Valuev the opportunity to fight for the world champion's title. Moreover, I offered financial compensation that nobody else is offering to him and nobody else has given to him in the past. Regardless, Valuev is taking a very long time to think it over, and make a decision on whether he wants to fight a Klitschko."
If Valuev does not make a decision in the near future, Klitschko will select another opponent from the WBC rankings.
"Well, we can't force him to fight by dragging him in the ring. If he doesn't give us an answer in the near future and agrees to box, we will go down the line of contenders and fight whoever is in line in the world rankings. We are in negotiations with Valuev but at the same time we negotiating with other athletes, who are high in the ratings and look forward to boxing for the world title."
