By Erik Schmidt: According to German news, International Boxing Federation/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (52-3, 46 KOs) is looking at range of different opponents to step in for the injured David Haye, who had to pull out of the June 20th fight with Klitschko that was set to take place at the Veltins Arena, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. With over 60,000 tickets already sold for the bout, understandably, Wladimir is interested in carrying out the fight date but against a different opponent.
Nikolay Valuev, the WBA heavyweight champion, Eddie Chambers and WBA heavyweight champion in recess Ruslan Chagaev have been mentioned as potential opponents for Klitschko to fight. However, the chances of a bout against Chagaev and Valuev would seem unlikely due to their still unsolved squabbles over their can celled bout from last weekend in Finland.
Valuev would be the best of the bunch because of his huge 7-foot 320 pound size. It would be a great match-up, because Valuev is a German-based fighter and has a huge following over there.
Chambers was supposed to be fighting Alexander Dimitrenko next month on July 4th to find out who will be the WBO mandatory challenger for Klitschko. Chambers would be a good opponent, but Dimitrenko would also be a good replacement, but his name wasn’t mentioned.
With the thousands of tickets sold to British fans, it might better serve Wladimir’s interest in if were to fight a good British heavyweight. However, there’s not a lot to pick over at this time. A fight against Sam Sexton, Danny Williams or Derek Chisora wouldn’t interest too many German fans, and there might be a stampede of people returning their tickets from Germany. Likewise, if Wladimir were to fight heavyweight prospect Tyson Fury the same thing would likely occur, since he’s not well know as of yet.
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