By James Slater: The above headline (the part with the speech marks) comes from the official web site www.globalboxing.com – the promotional group behind unbeaten but little-known Polish heavyweight Mariusz Wach. And the word is, the 31-year-old giant (6’7” approx 260-pounds) with the impressive-looking 25-0(13) pro record is being seriously considered as world heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko’s next challenger.
According to the web site: “Shelley Finkel asked if we were interested in fighting Wladimir in November,” Mariusz Kolodziej, of Global Boxing said. “I said, ‘yes, we’re interested, send me the proposal.’ We are currently fielding offers from various parties. Obviously Wach wants the chance to become heavyweight champion of the world, but we have to make sure that this is the right deal for us at this time.”
Apparently, the proposal from Klitschko group K2 is expected to arrive “tomorrow (Aug 5th) afternoon.”
So, what will the fans make of it if Wach does land a November date with the best big man on the planet? On paper a mismatch, at least at this stage in the still-improving Wach’s career, this match-up is somewhere on a par with the recently planned pairing that was Klitschko-Dereck Chisora. At the same time, however, who else is there right now that “Dr. Steel Hammer” could fight?
Most of the top contenders are either busy with other fights/obligations or feel they are unready to face Klitschko, and the champ wants to stay busy. It just may be that both big brother Vitali and Wladimir wind up facing Polish guys in their next fight – Vitali, as we know, faces Tomasz Adamek on September 10th.
Wach was last seen icing well-known journeyman and one-time Mike Tyson conqueror Kevin McBride; scoring a vicious 4th-round KO. A good amateur who picked up lots of experience in international tournaments, Wach went pro in April of 2005. Fighting in Poland, Germany and the U.S (Wach now lives in New Jersey), “The Viking” fought the usual calibre of opposition an up-and-comer goes in with. Useful wins over the likes of Julius Long, Christian Hammer, Galen Brown and McBride have done Wach no harm, but it goes without saying he has met no-one remotely close to Klitschko’s talents.
Will the fans buy Klitschko-Wach if it indeed happens? A lot would have to do with the venue of the fight – in either New Jersey or Poland, the fight would perhaps draw a crowd. And to be fair, we have seen far worse heavyweight title challengers over the years!