Valuev to fight Haye for WBC belt in November

By ROBERT MILLWARD, AP Sports Writer

LONDON (AP)—Tired of waiting for Vitali Klitschko, Nikolai Valuev will defend his WBA heavyweight title against David Haye in November.

The fight is likely to be in Germany on Nov. 7 with Haye, the brash former cruiserweight world champion now trying to make his name as a heavyweight, promising to be the first fighter to knock out the 7-foot Russian.

“It is not the first time that my opponents have said things like that,” Valuev said Thursday. “Haye is a young man with a big mouth. Let him talk. It will be different in the ring. He will certainly not get my belt.”

Valuev’s German-based backers said they had been trying to set up a unification bout with Klitschko, the WBC champion, but they did not hear back from his management.

“I know that a lot of boxing fans really wanted to see Valuev fighting Vitali,” said Valuev’s manager, Wilfried Sauerland. “We wanted to make this fight happen. It was our top priority and I had really good talks with Vitali.

“But all of a sudden, I did not hear back. I could not get in touch with his management anymore. We were under time pressure and at some point we had to look for a different opponent. We are happy to present an up-and-coming challenger such as David Haye. I am sure it will be an exciting fight.”

Haye became available after his challenge to Vitali’s brother, Wladimir, was called off last month because Haye injured his back in training. Haye was also close to a deal to fight Vitali before deciding to take on Valuev instead.

Haye is still a novice at heavyweight, having fought only twice at that level, and will be nine inches shorter and probably up to 100 pounds lighter than Valuev, the tallest and heaviest world champion in boxing history.

The 36-year-old Valuev is 50-1, while the 28-year-old Haye is 23-1.

“I saw the guy actually fight when I was 16 years old at Battersea Town Hall” (in London), Haye said. “I went up next to him and I couldn’t believe human beings got that big. And now I am fighting him. I have got to get inside him and outmaneuver him. Big heavyweights punch a lot harder, but they punch a lot slower, so I can see everything that’s coming.”

Vitali Klitschko’s manager, Bernd Boente, said Thursday that Haye had turned down an offer to fight his client in Frankfurt so he can instead take on Valuev, considered by many a less formidable opponent than the Klitschko brothers.

Boente said he learned about the Valuev deal through the media, and railed against Haye for backing out of what he considered a completed deal to fight Sept. 12 at Commerzbank-Arena.

“The cancellation was very surprising,” Boente said. “Haye’s manager, Adam Booth, did not even have the courage to give me a call personally and tell me about their decision—for me a sign of his inexistent class.”

Wladimir Klitschko also took a shot at Haye, who irked the brothers during a media tour for their scheduled fight. Haye wore graphic T-shirts that depicted him holding the Klitschkos’ dismembered heads up in the center of the ring.

“David always had a big mouth and tried to offend us with ridiculous, self-made T-shirts,” Wladimir Klitschko said. “But when it comes up to step into the ring and show what he’s got, he runs away. He even admits that fighting Valuev is the easier way. For me Haye is a little, inexperienced kid who is afraid of his own courage.”

AP Sports Writers Nesha Starcevic in Frankfurt and Dave Skretta in New York contributed to this report.

Klitschko to face Chagaev on June 20

FRANKFURT (AP)—Ruslan Chagaev will replace David Haye as Wladimir Klitschko’s opponent in a heavyweight title bout on June 20.

Haye bowed out of the fight on Wednesday, saying he had injured his back in training, and said he wanted to push the date back to July.

But Klitschko, who holds the IBF and WBO belts, said he was in top form and wanted to keep the date—a 60,000-ticket sellout at Schalke’s soccer stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

“It’s unfortunate that David Haye can’t compete. But now I’m looking ahead and I’m excited about a particularly sporting challenge with Ruslan Chagaev,” Klitschko (52-3) said in a statement released Saturday by his management company, KMG.

Chagaev has been the WBA’s “champion in recess” since withdrawing from two scheduled rematches against Nikolai Valuev. A third match between the two fighters scheduled for last Saturday in Helsinki was canceled after Finnish boxing authorities said Chagaev failed a “medical requirement.”

The WBA had said that the two must fight before the end of this month to decide ownership of the title, but has not announced what the most recent cancellation means for that deadline.

Klitschko’s manager, Bernd Boente, said Valuev was also considered as a potential challenger for the June 20 fight.

In February, Chagaev (25-0-1) won a technical decision over Carl Davis Drumond at Rostock, Germany—the Uzbekistan-born boxer’s first fight in more than a year.

Haye hopes Klitschko fight can be rescheduled

LONDON (AP)—David Haye hopes his world heavyweight title fight against Wladimir Klitschko can be rescheduled for July.

The British fighter pulled out of the scheduled June 20 bout against the IBF and WBO champion on Wednesday after injuring his back in training.

The fight was scheduled to take place before a sellout crowd of more than 60,000 at Schalke’s soccer stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Haye’s manager, Adam Booth, said Thursday the boxer was returning to Britain for treatment and hoped a new fight date would be arranged.

“It looks like there will be only a three-week delay from the original fight date, which hopefully means that Wladimir will only postpone the fight, rather than cancel it,” Booth said in statement.

Haye is 22-1 and has recently moved up from cruiserweight. Klitschko, considered the best of the heavyweights, is 52-3.

“I’m sorry to disappoint all my fans across the world and I hope that once I have had the sufficient treatment, I will be able to start training again and we can get the fight on as soon as possible,” Haye said. “I know this is the fight the fans want and I will do everything to make sure it happens.”

Klitschko’s manager, Bernd Boente, said the fight could be moved to late July.

“Contractually, we have to first of all see how bad the injury is,” he told Setanta Sports News. “If there is just a small postponement, maybe we could do the fight four weeks later. We have put a lot of training into the fight but we will have to see.”

Klitschko voiced his frustration and suggested he could find a new opponent.

“I’ve been waiting for this David Haye fight for half a year,” Klitschko said. “But now I have no David Haye on June 20th, so we’ll keep the date and I wish a fast recovery to him.”