Wlad Vs Del Boy is back on - 30th April

[Chambers2]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/9341921.stm

Britain's unbeaten heavyweight boxer Dereck Chisora's fight with IBF and WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko has been rearranged for 30 April in Germany.

Chisora had been due to meet Klitschko in December but the fight was postponed because of an injury to the Ukrainian.

It had been expected WBA champion David Haye would seal a unification fight with Klischko but this ends his hopes of meeting the 34-year-old in April.

"This news is a fantastic late Christmas present," said Chisora.

The fight between Klitschko and 26-year-old Chisora could now open up the possibility of fellow Londoner Haye taking on the Ukrainian's brother Vitali Klitschko, who is the WBC champion, in April or May.

"I always believed that I would fight Wladimir Klitschko, and my faith has been repaid," added Chisora.

"I was a bit worried that he might try and fight an easier touch, but I think I've earned my opportunity.

"I was gutted when Wladimir pulled out of our fight just a couple of days beforehand. But now I've got another chance to take his titles away.

"He's a great world champion, but his time at the top is well and truly up.

"My promoter allegedly has done a great job in getting me this opportunity because there was no guarantee Wladimir would fight me again after he got injured."

[alexpaterson]

Not a good sign for Haye but good luck to Derrick! I thought he may not get his chance at Wlad but good luck to the lad.

[wrimc]

Apparently down to the inability for Sky and RTL to agree and April May tv date so they are waiting until the Summer and in the meantime Klitschko is taking Chisora as a tuneup.

[SteveDow]

I read on BS that there is a tentative agreement in place for a July 2nd date between Haye v Klitschko. From a financial perspective this would make sense given that Haye is contracted to one more fight under the Sauerland promotional banner and I believe the Klitschkos have 2 fights left under RTL (both can have 1 fight and the contract ends). This would mean that after these fights both parties could make significantly more money as they are not constrained by any contracts.

That said, this is bloody frustrating for us as fans.

Also, who does Haye fight next? Presumably he'll take the mandatory against Chagaev in the UK in April. Slightly risky fight however and not one which I could see selling particularly well so he may actually not fight at all until July.

[Hagler2002]

Booth isn't best pleased.

Wladimir Klitschko should feel ashamed of himself for opting to fight Dereck Chisora rather than set up a unification bout with David Haye, according to the latter's manager and trainer Adam Booth.

Haye, the WBA champion, has been engaged in protracted negotiations with the Ukrainian, who holds the IBF and WBO titles and is regarded as the world's best heavyweight as holder of the respected 'Ring' belt.

However, it was announced on Wednesday that Klitschko will instead honour his agreement to fight Haye's fellow Londoner Chisora, on April 30, after a stomach injury forced the champion to pull out of their proposed clash last month.

An unimpressed Booth told Sky Sports News: "There were lots of people that know Wladimir really didn't want this fight yet.

"It's a shame. It's embarrassing for boxing that the unification fight isn't going to happen now because David's bent over backwards. We've conceded to every single ridiculous demand they made.

"From the start they said 50-50. David said fine, even though potentially we're putting in the pot three or four times more than they're putting into the pot because of pay-per-view Sky box office. David still said 'let's get the fight done 50-50'.

"They said the fight had to be on their German broadcaster even though our German broadcaster was prepared to pay more. We said fine. They said 'we're not coming to England for the fight'. David said 'fine, I'll go to Germany'. They said Wladimir has to be in the red corner, Wladimir has to come in second, Wladimir's name has to be first on the poster and all these other ridiculous, egotistical things, and David said 'fine, have it, just get him in the ring with me'.

"The last thing was, here is the date we now have, we said yes, Sky have approved that date and they turn round and say 'we're now doing Chisora'.

"Wladimir should feel ashamed of himself."

It seemed the financial arrangements for Haye versus Klitschko had been agreed but several stumbling blocks - chiefly available television dates - had yet to be sorted out.

Booth cannot fathom why Klitschko would not agree to fight Haye - other than not being convinced he would triumph.

He added: "When Wladimir first spoke of fighting David, when David was still a cruiserweight, I think he was confident but now as a heavyweight I genuinely don't think he's as confident.

"If he was, why would he want to go out and fight Chisora? If he's confident of beating David, and he's got it all his own way, and we've agreed to all of his terms, if he's confident of beating David, why is he fighting Dereck Chisora for a fraction of the money that he would make to fight David? It makes no sense to me."

Haye had hoped to fight Klitschko in the spring and then his brother Vitali, the WBC champion, in late summer or early autumn before hanging up his gloves as undisputed champion.

"I'm retiring next year, so they have got to pull their socks up," Haye said after mauling Audley Harrison in November. "They have got a deadline and a deadline is a deadline.

"I retire before I'm 31 (October 13) and no way am I going to wait around. It puts an extra bit of pressure on them."

However, unless he can instead face Vitali first and then Wladimir, Haye will now have to wait until the end of this year or even early 2012 before achieving his goals.

Vitali, though, has a mandatory defence against unbeaten Cuban Odlanier Solis on his agenda, leaving Haye kicking his heels until June at the earliest.

British and Commonwealth champion Chisora - who has an unbeaten 14-fight record - was always hopeful he would still get his shot at Wladimir and it was confirmed on Wednesday they will meet in the spring, with Germany still hosting the bout.

"This news is a fantastic late Christmas present," Chisora said.

"I always believed that I would fight Klitschko, and my faith has been repaid. I was a bit worried that he might try to fight an easier touch, but I think I've earned my opportunity.

"I was gutted when Wladimir pulled out of our fight just a couple of days beforehand.

"But now I've got another chance to take his titles away.

"He's a great world champion, but his time at the top is well and truly up.

"My promoter allegedly has done a great job in getting me this opportunity because there was no guarantee Wladimir would fight me again after he got injured."

http://www.sportinglife.com/boxing/news ... tlead.html

[WelshDevil]

I read on BS that there is a tentative agreement in place for a July 2nd date between Haye v Klitschko. From a financial perspective this would make sense given that Haye is contracted to one more fight under the Sauerland promotional banner and I believe the Klitschkos have 2 fights left under RTL (both can have 1 fight and the contract ends). This would mean that after these fights both parties could make significantly more money as they are not constrained by any contracts.

That said, this is bloody frustrating for us as fans.

Also, who does Haye fight next? Presumably he'll take the mandatory against Chagaev in the UK in April. Slightly risky fight however and not one which I could see selling particularly well so he may actually not fight at all until July.

It is very frustrating. Seems it was Sky who wouldn't approve the April date as it clashed with an Amir Khan PPV.

I hope Haye takes a fight and the Chagaev bout seems the logical one as he's the mandatory WBA contender. Though I'm sure a fight with Adamek stateside would do big business in the US.

[Hagler2002]

It is very frustrating. Seems it was Sky who wouldn't approve the April date as it clashed with an Amir Khan PPV.

According to Booth the date had been cleared by Sky.

[alexpaterson]

I would like to see Wlad's side of the story, as I'm sure there's more than a bit of bias in there! I still think they'll get it on

[WelshDevil]

It is very frustrating. Seems it was Sky who wouldn't approve the April date as it clashed with an Amir Khan PPV.

According to Booth the date had been cleared by Sky.

According to Bernd Boente, it was Sky who rejected it and RTL were fine with it. I don't know which one of them is lieing.

Klitschko vs Haye on July 2, Khan Forces Chisora Dance

By Rick Reeno

BS.com spoke with Bernd Boente, manager of WBO/IBO/IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49KOs), who explained the situation with the David Haye (25-1, 23KOs) negotiations and the rescheduled rematch with Dereck Chisora (14-0, 9KOs).

The negotiations for a unification with Haye, the WBA champion, have been ongoing for the last three weeks. The two sides reached an ageement on all of the major issues, but faced a big problem with setting a date that worked for a potential venue, and both cable networks, Sky Sports in England and RTL in Germany.

According to Boente, the date of April 30 was a workable venue date, and it worked for RTL, but Sky Sports was not willing to do two pay-per-views in the same month. Sky has a pay-per-view scheduled on April 16, with Amir Khan defending the WBA 140-pound title. The opponent has not been finalized for Khan. The British network refused to accommodate Klitschko-Haye. Sky was unwilling to move Khan's fight to another date.

There were no dates in May or June that worked for both networks. The first available date, that works for both networks, and a potential venue - is July 2. Both sides have a tentative agreement to fight on the July date.

Klitschko was scheduled to face Chisora on December 11. He withdrew a few days before the fight with an abdominal injury. The Klitschko camp was contractually bound to a 30-day window to reschedule the fight with Chisora or move forward with another opponent. The deadline was January 6.

Klitschko has not fought since the knockout of Samuel Peter on September 11, and he refused to wait nine months before taking another fight. Wladimir wanted to take a fight prior to meeting Haye. Boente and allegedly, promoter for Chisora, agreed to reschedule their fight to April 30.

"We have been in negotiations with Haye's side for three weeks regarding dates and venues in Germany and England but nothing worked. The main point, Sky was not willing to do a second pay-per-view in the same month. They didn't want to move the Khan fight. There were no dates that worked in May or June, so the first available date that worked for everyone was July 2. Sky gave their confirmation this morning," Boente told BS.com.

"July 2 will be for the Haye fight, but Wladimir is not willing to wait nine months for his next fight. He wants to do the Chisora fight. We have no problem with Haye doing another fight inbetween. Our deadline was always tomorrow to inform allegedly about Chisora."

Source: BS

[jamesmcdonnell]

poor old del boy, getting the run around.