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.
IBF/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.
By 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.
By 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.