Wladimir Klitschko’s trainer hopes a fight between the bruising Ukrainian and Britain’s WBA heavyweight champion David Haye will still take place even though talks for a July fight fell apart last week.
“I would like to see it,” Klitschko trainer Emanuel Steward said on Tuesday. “David is a very talented fighter. I like him. I needle him a lot back and forth because he likes to do the media hype, but I respect him a lot.”
The two fighters had agreed to terms for a July 2 fight, but Haye then backed out when he refused to allow Klitschko a fight with Britain’s Dereck Chisora on April 30, a bout rescheduled from last month because of a Klitschko injury.
Steward says Klitschko (55-3, 49 KOs), whose last bout was a 10th-round stoppage of Samuel Peter in September, wanted an interim bout to stay busy ahead of Haye (25-1, 23 KOs).
He also said Klitschko’s reluctance to wait until July for his next fight was partly founded on the fact that Haye pulled out two weeks before a previously scheduled fight between the two in 2009, citing a back injury.
Klitschko, the WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight champion, has no faith in Haye’s level of commitment, Steward said.
Haye’s camp expressed doubt that Klitschko, who fought twice last year and once in 2009, would be ready to fight Haye so soon after an April fight, but Steward insisted that “Wladimir says he intends to be ready to fight on July 2.”
Klitschko must first deal with Chisora, who is unbeaten in 14 fights as a professional, 44 fewer than the Ukrainian. However, despite less experience, Steward said a young and confident Chisora could pose problems for Klitschko.
“To me, the confidence, the ambition, the burning desire of a fighter is a lot more dangerous to me than that of an experienced fighter,” Steward said. “I’ve always felt that Chisora was a tough fight and I’m really not that super excited about it.”
Vitali Klitschko
AFP, BERLIN
WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko confirmed on Tuesday he would defend his title against Cuban Odlanier Solis in Cologne, Germany, on March 19.
“Solis is a very experienced boxer, quick and unpleasant who I shouldn’t underestimate,” Ukraine’s Vitali Klitschko said.
“He’s been saying for months that he wants to take my title, but I’ll show him in the ring that I’m the real champion. The belt will stay in the Klitschko family,” he added.
Solis, 30, won the right to take on Klitschko after his victory over American Ray Austin last month.
The Cuban is unbeaten in 17 bouts — including 13 inside the distance — and was Olympic heavyweight champion in 2004.
Klitschko, 39, has 41 wins to his name, including 38 by knock-out, and two defeats.
Nonito Donaire
AFP, LOS ANGELES
Philippine bantamweight star Nonito Donaire says national pride will be on the line when he takes on Mexican champion Fernando Montiel in a world title fight on Feb. 19.
Donaire will be trying to take two titles off the 31-year-old Montiel, who holds the WBC and WBO belts, when they square off at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
“Fernando Montiel is the best fighter I have ever faced and certainly the toughest challenge of my career,” Donaire said at a news conference Tuesday at a Los Angeles hotel.
“It is going to be a battle of strength and will,” he said. “I am leaving nothing to chance in my training and when the final bell rings, the Philippines will have another mark in the victory column over Mexico.”
Montiel (43-2-2, 33 KOs) is only the fourth Mexican boxer to capture world titles in three different divisions, next to his idol, the legendary Julio Caesar Chavez.
“It is a very important fight for me and a great opportunity to prove that I am one of the best fighters in the world,” Montiel said. “I expect a tough fight, but I also expect to win.”
Donaire (25-1, 17 KOs) of -General Santos City, beat Ukrainian Wladimiro Sidorenko in his last fight to extend his win streak to 24 fights.
The 28-year-old former world flyweight champion, who is comfortable throwing punches with either hand, wobbled Sidorenko just 75 seconds into the fight with a powerful right and stinging left hook combination.
His resume also includes a 2007 win over dual Aussie/Armenian champion Vic Darchinyan.
Audley Harrison
AFP, LONDON
British boxer Audley Harrison will be considerably richer on Tuesday after it was announced that despite his limp performance in November’s world heavyweight title fight against his compatriot David Haye, he will be paid for the bout, according to the BBC.
The 39-year-old — who in Sydney in 2000 became the first British boxer to win a superheavyweight Olympic gold medal — landed just one punch against compatriot and holder David Haye in a contest that failed to go beyond three rounds.
However, though the British Boxing Board of Control considered withholding the purse for his failure to show any real fighting intent, they resolved in the end that he should be paid.
Haye is still under investigation about remarks that he bet on himself to win in the third round.
Haye, however, has subsequently claimed he had not placed a bet himself, but that several of his friends had.
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