Vitali-Rock: is it on or off or what?

[Enayze]

It's postponed until further notice.

[PBDS]

.....This article says it all, shows that Vitali is doing the right thing, and proves the injury is legit. For people to buy into Vitali being afraid of Hasim(Oleg Maskaev nearly killed me) Rahman is a ****ing joke.

New details on Klitschko injury!
October 19, 2005

By Karl Freitag




WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko at last Wednesday's media workout in Los Angeles.
[Photo: Rocco Morelli]
*********.com spoke with Vitali Klitschko's personal manager Bernd Boente to get the latest on Vitali's condition after news that his fight with Hasim Rahman has been postponed again. Boente said Klitschko has a completely torn meniscus (cartilage) in his right knee that is likely to require arthoscopic surgery. Next week he will be having the knee further evaluated by Dr. Richard Steadman in Vail, Colorado. As to when Vitali can return, "It really depends on the doctor next week," commented Boente. "He hopes very soon."

Below are more comments from Boente on Vitali's injury:

About the injury:

He tried to train today with a special brace that some of the football players and NBA players play with, but for him it didn't work. The knee was still totally unstable and we knew from the MRI that his meniscus is completely torn and now we have to see next week if that is all [the damage]. Hopefully it is and he can come back very soon.

With a torn meniscus you cannot fight or play soccer or play tennis or whatever. You can walk. As long as you can control your movement you have no problems. In a fight you can't control all the movements.

About fighting despite the injury:

With a torn meniscus you cannot go through this. I can't understand why people write those things or think this way. In my eyes, Vitali would have no sportsmanship, no character at all, because, OK, he can wear such a brace and maybe try it, but for just trying it, and maybe giving up, is that acceptable to get eight or nine million dollars? Some other fighters or some other athletes would do that, but he's not doing that. I think that shows really what kind of person he is. Others would have taken the brace and said 'we know we're only 50%, but let's try it and take the money.' Vitali said 'the fans pay for the fight, they pay for the pay-per-view, they go into the arena and pay high prices. The minimum they can expect is high performance' and I agree 100%.....Many athletes would have taken the money and run. Vitali is not that guy and that really speaks for itself.

About the string of injuries Vitali has suffered:

This year was a very, very bad year. Sometimes you have downs in your life and this year with the exception of the birth of his second son, Max (named after Max Schmeling), it was really a bad year. The thigh injury, the back injury, now the knee injury. It can't become worse. It can only become better.

On Vitali being "cleared" to fight:

This doctor is a personal friend of Bob Arum. He was never cleared. This doctor is not an official doctor [of Vitali]. By the way, he never saw the MRI. What is this guy talking about? Dr. Bert Mandelbaum here in Santa Monica checked the MRI and he said the meniscus is clearly torn. With a torn meniscus you cannot fight. Maybe that was wishful thinking from Arum that he goes into the ring with this brace, I think it's a betrayal of the fans and the viewers and everybody if Vitali quits after the first or second round and says 'no I can't do it.' That would have happened 100%.

On the possibility of difficulties with the WBC:

Vitali hopes not. Vitali loves the WBC. He loves to be the WBC champion and he really hopes that Jose Sulaiman will at least wait until we have a clear picture on the knee in the next week or the week afterward.

On when the fight can be rescheduled:

I have no idea. All that is premature. First Vitali wants to check the knee and then we will see.....with arthoscopic surgery, if it's only the meniscus injury, you can be back and training after three weeks.

[Torino]

F**K!

I was really looking forward to this fight. These things happen and I don't blame Vitali for not wanting to fight on a bad knee, but it's getting to the point where I don't care if he has to fight blindfolded, on one leg, while eating pizza.

I hope this fight still takes place, .. . . and soon.

The Boobs are never going to let him live this down.

[kbpoetree]

oh i'm sure he will have surgery so he can delay fighting for another year..what a ***** i swear this is why i dont watch heavyweights anymore they are soft now dayz.They better strip his damn belt

[ejk22]

yep, i agree absolutely 100% pure scared of losin his precious little belts that have made him a fake champ

He may wind up losing his belt anyway now. So what difference does it make?

[BLOODSHED]

The Klits keep burying themselves in the court of public opinion. Hopefully this is the nail in the coffin for a lackluster career. This guy had the opportunity to clean out a weak heavyweight division and go down in history. But with this big puss bag, it's "safety first".

[Derranged]

Let Rahamn have the belt it dont matter cause if they ever do meet Vitali will still beat his ass.

[theironone]

very good point..why...cause a boxer used 2b known as a fighter, a warrior, now i see most of em as a bunch of ******* looken for excuses not 2fight the best man.they all looken 2 fight the perfect people so they can look good. The greats fight thru the injuries and never let the opponent know they are injured a warrior must compensate and do his best if at all possible..no excuses i mean lot of fighters fought anyway thru injuries it makes u a better man and more aware of actually boxing and not maken ****** mistakes

to a certain extent your spot on but its how serious an injury is.
you really see most fighters lookin for excuses NOT to fight each other, if you sustain injury in a fight then of course keep going til you cant anymore, look at danny williams when his shoulder came out against mark potter, he looked ****ed but kept going, im talking serious injury not a bad back, swollen knee or sore-ish hands.
If your injured to the extent that you cant fight then it doesnt make you any less of 'a man', however if your pulling this **** two or three times a year and it never seems so bad then they should be reminded what their profession is.

[SacTown1]

did you guys SERIOUSLY think that Quitali would get in the ring with The Rock?!?!

gimme a break!

The guy has proven ONE THING his entire career: he's great at quitting, period

and the NEW....WBC CHAMPION......THE ROCK!!!!

[Guest]

This isn't irredeemable. Just the stakes have been raised. When it does happen I'm looking for an absolute blow-out of Rahman. I'm talking total destruction, complete unification and then using James Toney's bones to pick his teeth with.