Wladimir Klitschko vs. Francesco Pianeta

[The Hammer]

Dan Rafael says he was told Wlad's opponent will likely be Francesco Pianeta.

Here's today's ESPN article:

http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/3087/back-to-work-for-wladimir-klitschko

[Simurgh]

Very decent opponent for the voluntary.

I wouldn't have nothing against this fight.

[SN!PER]

It's fun to see how these undefeated guys with big egos react when they get in against Klitschko.

I hope he makes a good account of himself and fights back instead of retreating from Wlad's power.

[Barry Halls]

I don't know about this. He looks like a lesser version of Dimitrenko.

If this is a voluntary he should be able to do better?

Is it settled 100% that he's fighting Povetkin in July?

Size means little to me in the hw division. It's about skills.
People that don't recognize that the Klitschkos are dominating this (granted quite weak) division out of skill rather than size are naive. The best historic hw's have all been quite small.

[IMDAZED]

Sounds like a pretty shoddy fighter. Ehh, who cares? Other options aren't that much better.

After this, Wladimir should look to seal his legacy. For him, that means running through the remaining so-called top contenders.

[B.U.R.N.E.R]

Another stiff huh.

[Cinci Champ]

man wlad has so much skill why wont he fight anybody seriously i would hope everyone give him as much "cherry pick" talk as floyd cause imo its way worse. why not someone people actually know like price,fury,wilder maybe non have a real shot but so what atleast be entertaining

[Cinci Champ]

I'd like to see him fight three times this year:

Pianeta
Povetkin
Pulev

All prime undefeated opponents.

id be happy wit 2 of the 3 really

[D-MiZe]

Horrendous fight.

Pianeta is an absolute joke of an opponent and I'd be surprised if this went past 3. 4 years ago he fought the likes of Sosnowski, Skelton and I was expecting him to step it up from there. But he's regressed since then and hasn't fought a meaningful fight in those 4 years.

It's really embarrassing how poor of an opponent the Klitschko's are picking recently. Charr was a joke but Pianeta is even worse.

[The Big Dunn]

Pianeta isn't known in the USA, but he's well-known in Europe.

Price and Wilder don't want to fight Wladimir yet. Fury's management turned down the fight last fall that was eventually given to Wach. Those guys are waiting for the Klitschkos to retire.

WHat I know of Pianeta, his record has been achieved through bottom level fighters that are much smaller than he. Is this true?

SHouldn't Pianeta be a sparringpartner and not a voluntary defense?