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Samuel Peter's mandatory heavyweight title defense against unretiring but oft-injured former belt holder Vitali Klitschko, which was agreed to in principle a couple of months ago, will take place Oct. 4 or Oct. 11, most likely in Europe with Showtime televising the bout in the United States, Peter promoter Dino Duva told ESPN.com.
AP Photo/Adam Rountree
Samuel Peter's next fight will come against the oft-injured Vitali Klitschko.
Peter (30-1, 23 KOs), who won the title in March by knocking out Oleg Maskaev in the sixth round of a long-overdue mandatory fight, was going to fight an optional defense this month but time ran short to put it together. All along, Duva has been working on the fight with Klitschko and found support from Showtime.
"We're pretty much done with the deal with Showtime," Duva said. "[Showtime boxing chief] Ken Hershman has been great to work with throughout this process. We're committed to Showtime. It's 99 percent done."
Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) hasn't fought since making his only title defense against Danny Williams in December 2004. Numerous injuries led to his retirement and various comebacks fell through because of more injuries. One of the remaining hurdles in finalizing the deal is contract language about what will happen if Klitschko is again unable to fight on the planned date.
-Dan Rafeal
AP Photo/Adam Rountree
Samuel Peter's next fight will come against the oft-injured Vitali Klitschko.
Peter (30-1, 23 KOs), who won the title in March by knocking out Oleg Maskaev in the sixth round of a long-overdue mandatory fight, was going to fight an optional defense this month but time ran short to put it together. All along, Duva has been working on the fight with Klitschko and found support from Showtime.
"We're pretty much done with the deal with Showtime," Duva said. "[Showtime boxing chief] Ken Hershman has been great to work with throughout this process. We're committed to Showtime. It's 99 percent done."
Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) hasn't fought since making his only title defense against Danny Williams in December 2004. Numerous injuries led to his retirement and various comebacks fell through because of more injuries. One of the remaining hurdles in finalizing the deal is contract language about what will happen if Klitschko is again unable to fight on the planned date.
-Dan Rafeal
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