WBC orders Vitali to face Gomez next.

[paul750]

knocked Gomez out in sparring", manager Bernd Bönte says to ARD.

That sort of talk is very cheap. The same cheap talk Gomez himself sometimes talks. If this fight actually happens and Gomez gets his act together regarding preparation, this could be very interesting.

[paul750]

Vitali has already knocked Gomez out in sparring", manager Bernd Bönte says to ARD.

I doubt he has done that anyway. From what I've read, Gomez has never been knocked down as a professional or amatuer, and his only stoppage was the Diaz loss. Gomez has always spoken confidently about fighting tall fighters, albeit probably not people in Klitschko's league.

I think the Klitschko camp know this is a potential banana skin and want to avoid it badly.

[!!Captain]

Vitali should fight Valuev and ditch the WBC belt. That's the fight I want to see.

Agree with that. What I want to know though, why is Vitali being ordered to face his mandatory next? What happened to his optional defense that he should be allowed?

[Chase8400]

This is no news, I knew this before Vitali won the WBC title. There alot of good guys in line and Gomez deserves his shot. The problem is that I don't think he will last 8 rounds against VK. If that fight is done in March, I just hope the Valuev fight follows it. And I want it to be here in the good ol' US of A. Las Vegas has a way about turning a good fight into a great fight. That, in my opinion is the best fight that can be made in the heavyweight division. It would sell alot of HBO PPV buys and I just hope that Don King will sacrifice the giant to the long arm of the Klitschko era.

[Jupiter Maximus]

Wlad never lost to Gomez as an amateur. Wlad chose Rahman because he's the next highest ranked IBF heavyweight, and so he'll qualify as a mandatory. Now Wlad won't need to fight Povetkin in 2009.

It will be great to see Vitali vs. Gomez, since Valuev will not fight a Klitschko. Slowly but surely, the Klitschkos will clean out the heavyweight division.

What happened to his voluntary defense option> Don't you usually get one before a mandatory?

[Jupiter Maximus]

That sort of talk is very cheap. The same cheap talk Gomez himself sometimes talks. If this fight actually happens and Gomez gets his act together regarding preparation, this could be very interesting.

Thats like asking a brotha to raise his 7 kids from 5 different bytches........
aint gonna happen

[Chase8400]

What happened to his voluntary defense option> Don't you usually get one before a mandatory?

Yes, but the WBC title has been tied up for so long, they feel that Vitali owes them a mandatory fight right out. I'm sure they ran some kind of vote, etc...

Either way, Vit will have to defend it because the Klitschko's have the dream to hold all the belts and that is not possible if he gets stripped.

[BattlingNelson]

Vitali should defend that belt, that's part of being a champion and Gomez is a talented heavyweight who offers Vitali a significant challenge.

Yeah you can say that. But given Vitali's age this is not a career we are talking about. It's one or two fights IMO.

[paul750]

Thats like asking a brotha to raise his 7 kids from 5 different bytches........
aint gonna happen

It's for the heavyweight title, though. I think even Gomez can muster enough willpower to truly prepare himself for this fight.

We'll have to wait and see.

[dmaclv]

Vitali fights Gomez in March then after Valuev and Holyfield fight, he can fight Valuev as long as Chagaev doesn't fight Valuev ya kno? I'm pretty sure Vitali wants to unify and then retire when he and his brother have all five titles, that'd suck cuz Haye or Arreola have alright chances against Vitali but we won't ever find out.