Wladimir Klitschko vs. Bryant Jennings possible for May 4th

02/16/2013 ESB

jennings4534 By Jeff Sorby: A fight between IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) and unbeaten American #3 IBF Bryant Jennings (16-0, 8 KO’s) is possible for May 4th, according to Sports Illustrated. The Klitschko-Jennings fight hinges interest from one of the two U.S cable giants HBO or Showtime.

HBO is reportedly interested in televising the fight. However, if they choose not to televise the fight to the U.S boxing fans, then Wladimir will then go ahead and face unbeaten Italian heavyweight contender Francesco Pianeta. That fight would still likely be shown in the U.S, albeit on EPIX instead of HBO or Showtime.

Wladimir Klitschko Could Face Fres Oquendo In April; Oquendo Says Talks Are Ongoing

02/06/201302/05/2013 ESB

By James Slater: According to invaluable news site Fightnews.com, Puerto Rican veteran and long-time heavyweight contender “Fast” Fres Oquendo could be next for the mighty Wladimir Klitschko. “Dr. Steel Hammer” asked for permission to take a voluntary fight before his ordered defence against “regular” WBA heavyweight titlist Alexander Povetkin, and it looks like initial possibility Odlanier Solis is now out of the running and Oquendo, 35-7(23) is in pole position.

Of course, nothing is certain until contracts are signed. Still, Oquendo, now aged 39 and into his sixteenth year as a pro, is hoping he will get the next shot at the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO king.

“My manager (Tom Tsatas) is working on it and it’s possible that in the end Wladimir could face me on April 6th,” Fres told Fightnews.com. “I’m training to get in the best condition to rip his head off. Give me the opportunity and don’t avoid me!”

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Odlanier Solis on April 6th?

09/14/201601/28/2013 ESB

By Michael Collins: Kalle Sauerland, the promoter for WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin, believes IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) will be ducking Povetkin and instead facing former 2004 Olympic Gold medalist Odlanier Solis (18-1, 12 KO’s) next on April 6th instead of his mandatory defense against Povetkin.

It’s no secret that Wladimir would like to put the Povetkin fight off so that he can get an optional defense in before taking the fight, but it looks like Sauerland badly wants Povetkin to be next.

Sauerland said on his twitter “Klitschko is trying to dodge his Povetkin mandatory to fight [Odlanier] Solis (he lost KO 1 v Vitali), 1 fight since then, not even ranked [Konstantin Airich]. Still can’t get over it. SOLIS! Daylight robbery of boxing fans time & $. Since when d’ya lose by KO, then almost directly [get] another chance.”

Fury hoping Wladimir will fight him on April 6th

01/23/201301/19/2013 ESB

fury34 By Michael Collins: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko needs an opponent for his April 6th fight date in Germany, and thus far there isn’t anyone that his management team has picked out for him. Odlanier Solis was reportedly ruled out for Wladimir, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.

Unbeaten British heavyweight #4 WBC Tyson Fury (20-0, 14 KO’s) is hoping he’ll get the fight with the 6’6” Ukrainian. In fact, Fury seems almost desperate to get the fight because WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko likely won’t be fighting Fury anytime soon if ever.

Fury said on his twitter page “Klitschko, if you fight Solis you’re a p***y! Fight me!. Solis is a fat s**t! He got KO’d by Vitali in 2.”

Wladimir Klitschko to fight on April 6th, but it might not be against Povetkin

01/17/2013 ESB

By Jeff Sorby: WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin doesn’t appear to be in the cards for IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko’s next fight on April 6th, according to espnnewyork.com. The Povetkin-Wladimir fight will take place later on in the year unless Povetkin decides he still doesn’t want to fight the 6’6” Wladimir.

The April 6th fight will likely see Wladimir face another less than spectacular opponent. Kubrat Pulev and Tomasz Adamek will be fighting in an IBF heavyweight eliminator bout this year, but neither of those guys will be fighting Wladimir next. That means that Wladimir will have to choose from a list of heavyweights that won’t be competitive. He’s already destroyed his last three opponents since his mismatch with David Haye in 2011. Since that one-sided fight, Wladimir has wiped out 39-year-old Jean Marc Mormeck, 41-year-old Tony Thompson and soundly beaten Mariusz Wach.

There’s not much time before April, so that likely means we could see an especially weak opponent for Wladimir.

Wladimir Klitschko – Alexander Povetkin On Collision Course

09/15/201612/19/2012 ESB

by Richard Smith: Not for the first time, heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko and fellow Olympic champion Alexander Povetkin are rumoured to be a on a collision course. Ordinarily, a fight between the dominant champion of the era and an unbeaten Olympic gold medalist would be a thrilling prospect. Instead, even if the fight finally takes place, its lustre will have dimmed considerably since the matchup was first proposed in 2008.

Four years ago, Povetkin was coming off consecutive victories over former Vitali Klitschko conqueror Chris Byrd and undefeated prospect Eddie Chambers. From that point on, his career stagnated. In fact, it was Chambers who would ultimately get a shot at Wladimir, suffering a 12th round stoppage defeat in March 2010. Meanwhile, Povetkin was picking up victories over such boxing notables as Taurus Sykes, Leo Nolan and Teke Oruh. Since claiming the vacant WBA ‘regular’ title with victory over Ruslan Chagaev in 2011, his most exciting win came over Marco Huck, a cruiserweight.

Tyson Fury faces Kevin Johnson tonight; wants one of the Klitschkos next

07/28/202011/30/2012 ESB

By Michael Collins: Undefeated heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KO’s) has already counted tonight’s fight against American Kevin Johnson (28-2-1, 13 KO’s) as a victory in the win column and he’s looking past Johnson towards a much wanted fight against either Vitali Klitschko or his brother Wladimir Klitschko. It remains to be seen whether Fury can get past Johnson, but if he does he’ll likely get one of the Klitschkos in the ring because they’re interested in fighting him.

The Legacy of Emanuel Steward Part 5: Exclusive Interview with Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko

08/12/201811/16/2012 Geoffrey Ciani

“Believe it or not, the monster has been created and Emanuel is with me. Even if he is not there he is with me. He is whispering in my ear as soon as I’m getting in the gym.”—Wladimir Klitschko

Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – This is Part Five of an ongoing series dedicated to the memory and legacy of an extraordinary individual, Emanuel Steward, whose contributions to the world of boxing are simply remarkable. In this installment, I had the privilege of speaking with the Heavyweight Champion of the world, Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KOs), who is coming off of a lopsided unanimous decision victory when he successfully defended his crown against Mariusz Wach (27-1, 15 KOs) last Saturday night. This was Klitschko’s first bout without Steward since the two first paired up more than eight years ago. Wladimir provided his views and unique insight, and also shared some of his experiences working together with the Hall of Fame trainer. Here is what Wladimir had to say:

GEOFFREY CIANI: Wladimir, first of all I want to congratulate you on another outstanding victory this past weekend. I got to say I’m surprised that Wach was able to stand up to your shots for twelve rounds. How do you feel about your performance?

WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO: I should say that Wach showed a big heart, with no doubt. He had to absorb really bad punishment in the ring, because I know those shots were not easy to take. I felt my knuckles almost on every shot, and this man was like made out of rock. He took a lot of punishment. So I have a lot of respect for him for keeping on going, and especially in the eighth round when the referee almost stopped the fight and his corner let him go the next round. So I was really impressed with that performance, but it was another title defense and that’s basically it.

CIANI: Now I know this must have been difficult for you on some level, being your first fight without Emanuel Steward since you two first joined forces. For you, how was it dealing with that scenario for the first time without Emanuel for your preparations and for the fight itself?

KLITSCHKO: I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining with how difficult it was. You can imagine it was not easy to all of us, to the entire team, to get to know one week and a half before the fight that Emanuel passed away. It was something that really affected the entire team, and we’re still actually affected by that. We miss Emanuel! I mean everything in the training camp and everything related to boxing, in my life in boxing, is Emanuel Steward. I am Emanuel Steward in a certain way, because he shaped the size of my character and my presence in this world as I am, through Emanuel. And I feel this before when I worked with Emanuel. I finally could see Lennox Lewis, because Lennox Lewis is also Emanuel Steward. He’s a part of Emanuel Steward, and Tommy Hearns and everyone else. It’s just something that is difficult to describe with words how much we miss him and how much it hurt us.

Wach blew his chance against Wladimir by not throwing enough punches

09/15/201611/12/2012 ESB

By Michael Collins: In dissecting what went wrong for the huge 6’7 1/2″ Mariusz Wach (27-1, 15 KO’s) last Saturday night in his embarrassingly one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss to IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) in Hamburg, Germany, it comes down Wach’s failure to let his hands go.

Wach had the built in power to win the fight if he had thrown some damn punches, but no. Wach fought passively by just covering up and every once in awhile throwing a wild right hand that frequently missed badly.

Wach’s mistake was that he just covered up like a sparring partner instead of taking advantage of what could be his only opportunity to ever fight for a world title. I can’t see Wach ever getting another chance at a strap unless the sanctioning bodies give him an inflated ranking off of a bunch of wins over lower level opposition.

Has the time has come to create a new division – a superheavyweight division?

09/15/201611/12/2012 ESB

Rob Moore: After watching another Wladimir Klitschko win, this time over the even bigger Mariusz Wach, I had to face up to the fact that my interest in watching much of what the heavyweight division has to offer, has waned considerably . The same division that that used to excite me and initiated my lifelong interest in the sport.

So many fights are truly underwhelming with guys showing limited range of skills, movement and conditioning, leading me to bore my kids with accounts of quality of fighters who graced the division in the past. You could never accuse Wladimir of not coming in in top condition and Wach showed great heart, but was the fight really top quality boxing and entertainment?

Unfortunately it seems like my diminished interest is shared by many, particularly in the US which just isn’t good for the sport’s future. There is certainly a valid point made by many that the Klitschko brothers have dominated the division for so long that it has hurt the division outside of Germany. While there is some mileage in that view, I see the problem as being more fundamental, and can be largely attributed the sheer size and weight of modern day heavyweights and the limitations this brings.