Interview with Francesco Pianeta

Interview with Francesco Pianeta

MAGDEBURG – For the second time in his career, he’s on the brink of becoming the heavyweight champion of the world. The Italian-German fighter Francesco Pianeta (31-1-1, 17 KOs) may have wasted his first opportunity two years ago against the Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko, but now he has a whole different opponent to deal with – the Uzbek Ruslan Chagaev (33-1-2, 20 KOs), nicknamed “The White Tyson”. And he surely believes in his chances against the boxer who, among others, has managed to beat the Russian giant Nikolay Valuev…

“Ruslan can reflect on a stellar career. He’s made it very far in our sport, but his best days are well behind him. It’s highly doubtful he’ll ever reproduce these performances, so I’m giving myself a good chance to win this fight,” says the likeable 30-year old cancer conqueror in an exclusive interview to Profiboxing.cz.

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Klitschko vs. Pianeta: Wladimir in stay busy fight on May 4th in Mannheim, Germany

wlad3IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) has decided to squeeze in what should be an easy stay busy fight against unbeaten challenger Francesco Pianeta (28-0-1, 15 KO’s) on May 4th at the SAP-Arena in Mannheim, Germany.

This is a tune-up of sorts for the 37-year-old Wladimir to get ready for his fight against WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin for who Wladimir must face by the end of August according to the World Boxing Association rules.

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Wladimir Klitschko vs. Francesco Pianeta on May 4th in Mannheim, Germany

pianeta43By Jeff Sorby: It looks like IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) has decided to defend his title against the unbeaten sleepy-eyed Francesco Pianeta (28-0-1, 15 KO’s) on May 4th at the SAP-Arena in Mannheim, Germany.

This is an optional title defense for the 36-year-old Wladimir, so it was a given that he was going to face a weak opponent, but it seems like Wladimir’s last three title defenses have been optional because the opponents have been so weak. Pianeta, #9 WBO, #12 WBA, is technically undefeated, but his resume is incredibly poor and without one quality opponent among his 28 victories.

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Pianeta defeats 43-year-old Frans Botha

Pianeta defeats 43-year-old Frans BothaBy Kevin Chittenden: Undefeated German based heavyweight contender Francesco Pianeta (27-1-1, 14 KO’s) defeated soon to be 44-year-old South African Frans Botha (48-8-3, 29 KO’s) by a 10 round unanimous decision on Friday night in a fight that almost more like a sparring match than an actual fight at the RWE Rhein-Ruhr Sporthalle, Muelheim, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. The 6’5″, light hitting Pianeta swept the judges’ score cards winning by the scores of 100-96, 99-92 and 97-93.

Botha was dominated in the fight but still was able to land the harder shots and the cleaner landing punches. Pianeta just does not have any power to speak and the best he could do was land weak left-right combinations that did little to slow down Botha’s forward moving progress. Botha fought well in the 4th and 10th rounds, out-working Pianeta.

Botha did a lot of jabbing and would often fight with his back against the ropes to catch breathers. It was an ugly fight to watch.

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