By Allan Fox: WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (33-2-1, 20 KOs) will be making his first defense of his WBA title in two months from now against fringe contender #13 WBA Francesco Pianeta (31-1, 17 KOs) on July 11th at the GETEC Arena in Magdeburg, Germany.
Pianeta, 6’5”, is getting another shot at a world title after being knocked out by IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in 2013 in a 6th round knockout loss. Pianeta hasn’t done a whole lot since then in beating Robert Teuber, Mickael Vieira and Ivica Bacurin.